SINGAPORE – Playing in this season’s National School Games (NSG), Victoria School’s Vincent Hyun has had to adapt.

The 16-year-old, who also plays for local club Black Wondersticks’ youth team, is usually fielded as a forward in a conventional six-a-side format. But he has been deployed as a wing-back defender in the inter-school competition, in which the B Division floorball is played in a five-a-side format.

While he initially struggled to adjust to his new role, his perseverance paid off as his contributions helped Victoria clinch a third straight B Division boys’ floorball title on April 15 with an emphatic 9-2 defeat of Catholic High School at Our Tampines Hub (OTH).

Flying out of the blocks, Victoria raced to a two-goal lead inside the first three minutes, setting the tone for a dominant display.

Vincent, who scored the opening goal after just 1min 25sec, said he was glad to show that he could flourish in his new position.

“I’ve been having to play like a wing-back defender,” Vincent, who is of South Korean descent, said when asked about the positional tweak. “It’s been very difficult for me to transition into a defender and be able to both defend and attack at the same time.

“That’s probably one of the main reasons I struggled a lot this season. But thankfully, (at the) end of the season, I was able to show off what I could do.”

Vincent credited his peers for their encouragement and motivation, saying: “That’s really what pushed me to the edge. They’re the ones that really gave me the extra boost to go the extra mile.”

This will be the last NSG for him and his Secondary 4 teammates as they will be graduating this year, and that gave them something more to play for.

Captain Hazique Nidal, 16, who scored two goals, said: “The Sec 4s, it’s their last year. I could see that they really, really wanted to win this title and that’s why we went inside the court and gave it our ultimate best.”

Coach Jatin Nair agreed, adding. “It...