Hockey

The beginnings

According to the late Mr V. Ambiavagar, 93, "In 1927 the great T.E.K. Ratnam tried to organise a hockey team but could not muster enough players. I got a team organised with experienced players comprising T.E.K., D.K. Samy, and Janz, a railway engine driver of a goods train whom I used to pick up whenever he arrived in Singapore. Janz was an excellent forward. The others were beginners and we practised on the CSC field but were not enough to form two sides. So I invited Lee Fong Lim of the Singapore Chinese Recreation Club who was also trying to form a team, to join us at practice matches three times a week. But practices were like real matches and quite often there were a clash or two. By 1930 we had a reasonably good hockey team. A.S.A. Jansen was so good that he was occasionally chosen to play for the State. Muthukumaru was our full back. Our star centre-half was Thillainathan who also played for the State, but decided to become a monk in the Ramakrishna Mission. Even C. Thuraisingham, the cricketer, played hockey."

CSC Hockey Team finds its Niche

From 1959 hockey seems to have experienced a renaissance . Around 1960 / 61, under the captaincy of Ernest Wicks, CSC had the honour of winning the SHA Double (Senior League and Knock Out) Championships, remaining unbeaten in that season. In the following 1962/63 season, CSC won the Treble, when the League and Cup Competition were introduced for the first time. Among the hockey 'greats' of that time were players like Chai Hon Yoon, S.T.Lingam, Freddie Fernandez, Chai Hon Yam, Soocelaraj, Dr. A. Vijiaratnam, Kanagalingam, S. Vellupillai, Ernest Frida, Alfred Ponnampalam, and V.R.Sabapathy. In 1977, CSC won the Singapore Hockey Association Senior six-a-side Trophy for the second successive year. In 1982 it also won the SHA Elite Cup and Balestier Under 20, for the Chellam Trophy. During that year the following (CSC) players were chosen to play for the Republic: Kee Yew Lin, M. Jeevanathan, Mohandas and Supahan.

Hockey in the Nineties

Under the dedicated convening skills of S. Gunasegaram, CSC hockey has certainly livened up. In 1999, the Men's team was promoted to the Premier League. This was followed by the formation of the Under-21 Team. It had been 8 years since the Club participated in the Premier League, stimulating interest among hockey players. The popularity of the game spread so rapidly that within two years, junior members from secondary schools were actively participating.

In 1999, the hockey team finished among the top four in the Singapore Hockey Federation (SHA) Premier League and made it to the semi-finals in the Premier K.O.Tournament. In the 1998 Annual TPCA/CSC games held in Kuala Lumpur, CSC drew with TPCA. In the same year the team travelled to Seremban, West Malaysia, and played against the Sungei Ujong Club game. Also in the annual programme is the contest for the Kenny Madhavan Trophy.

Ladies' Hockey

    For the record, the CSC Ladies' hockey team were Champions at the Royal Bangkok Hockey Carnival in 1997. The Jan / Feb 1999 issue of the CSCNews quoted their captain and convenor, Barbara Andreasen, "As defending champions the CSC girls returned to Bangkok in December 1998. The team, including many new members, demonstrated excellent team effort to tie on points at the top of the competition. The team has had a busy season with a few friendly games mixed in." Practices were held every Wednesday evening, but of late, seasonal rain has called a temporary halt to their training sessions. In 1998, Barbara continues, "We managed to tie for first in League play, but lost out on the tally of goals scored. Next year, look out !"

In the Annual Wooden Shoe Hockey Carnival held on Sunday 5 September 1999, CSC Ladies finished among the top four in a field of twelve ladies' teams.