National footballer Irsalina Irwan eyes SEA Games debut
The TL;DR: Ms Irsalina Irwan, 18, was among eight promising Singapore youth footballers awarded the inaugural Unleash The Roar! Overseas Scholarship in August 2023. In this two-part series about under-18 athletes in Singapore, the national player tells TLDR she hopes to play at the South-east Asian Games at the end of the year.
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Ms Irsalina Irwan was one of eight recipients of the inaugural Unleash The Roar! Overseas Scholarship in August 2023.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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SINGAPORE – When she was young, national footballer Irsalina Irwan used to go to West Coast Park with her family – not to play football but to watch her two younger brothers play football with their father.
“Whenever my dad took my brothers to West Coast Park to train, I would always go to the playground with my mum,” she said.
“But hearing them laughing and playing the game made football look so fun. At some point, I started to join in.”
Her brothers, now aged 13 and 16, are training with the Lion City Sailors youth team and Singapore Premier League club Young Lions.
Ms Irsalina is doing well in the sport, too.
Now 18, she has come a long way since she started kicking a ball at age nine and playing at youth football academies the following year – Ms Irsalina has not only represented Singapore at the youth and senior levels, but she was also among eight promising Singapore youth footballers who received the inaugural Unleash The Roar! Overseas Scholarship in August 2023 to further their football development in Spain or the United States.
She spent two years in the United States training at IMG Academy in Florida, graduating with a high school diploma.
Since returning to Singapore in 2025, she has decided to take a gap year to focus on football, before applying to a university in 2026.
Ms Irsalina Irwan, a wingback or defensive midfielder in the national women’s team, plays for Mattar Sailors in the Women’s National League.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Ms Irsalina, who is a wingback or defensive midfielder in the national women’s team, plays for Mattar Sailors in the Women’s National League.
As she trains hard in the hope of being called up for her first South-east Asian (SEA) Games, which takes place in Thailand in December, TL;DR caught up with her to talk about her football journey thus far.
Q: Can you tell us about your early experiences playing football?
When I was 10 years old, my dad enrolled me in ActiveSG Football Academy. There was no girls’ team so I played in the boys’ team with my two younger brothers. Being the only girl there, I took some time to fit in, because the boys had an idea that they were better than girls.
Playing with the boys helped me learn to be more aggressive when I go in for tackles. The boys are a lot more physical on the pitch, so that’s helped me when I now play against the bigger, more physical competition overseas.
Q: When did you first play for the national team?
When I was 11, I was invited to try out for the girls’ national development programme after a coach watched me play with ActiveSG.
I first played for the team during the 2019 UEFA-FAS under-15 youth national tournament. We played against teams like Guam and Moldova. We finished second, and I was awarded the most valuable player at the end of the tournament. A lot of players did very well. I still have no idea how I won that title.
Ms Irsalina first played for the national team during the 2019 UEFA-FAS under-15 youth national tournament.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Q: What was it like to win your first cap for the senior national team?
It was in a friendly against Hong Kong at the Jalan Besar Stadium in 2022. My whole family came down to watch me play.
I remember coming in (as a substitute) during the last 20 minutes of the game. I was still getting used to playing as a modern-day full back – making those dangerous, overlapping attacking runs. But it was a proud moment for me, being able to play in front of all my family members.
Q: What was it like to train at IMG Academy in the US after receiving the Unleash The Roar! Overseas Scholarship in 2023?
I always wanted to play overseas and compete in a different environment so it felt like a dream come true. The transition to life in America wasn’t always smooth, though, and I felt homesick sometimes. I missed warm home-cooked meals, especially my mum’s curry.
Sports count as school there. Training and gym sessions were integrated into our curriculum and there were even weekly workshops for athletes on nutrition, mental health and leadership.
Training and gym sessions were integrated into her curriculum when Ms Irsalina was training at IMG Academy in Florida, USA.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Q: I heard that you got injured in 2024 during your summer break. What happened?
I went down during a friendly game in preparation for an international match. I was told to try and walk (after going down) and my knee just gave way. That night was terrible. I remember sobbing and screaming so much that I probably traumatised the people around me.
The doctors later told me that I had sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury and that it would require a year of rehab to recover from it.
I spent my second year at IMG Academy undergoing rehabilitation to recover from my injury. I had to travel with my teammates and watch them play. It was hard watching them from the sidelines but it’s taught me to appreciate every moment I have on the pitch.
Q: Have you fully recovered? Will you be able to play in the SEA games?
I fully recovered in July 2025. I’ve since played for the Under-19 national team and the Mattar Sailors of the Women’s National League to get myself back into playing form.
I’m hopeful I’ll be called up for the SEA Games squad. That would be a dream come true.
Q: What motivates you to continue playing football?
The satisfaction of winning a tackle or celebrating with my teammates – that’s what makes football special. You can’t replace passion. If you have passion, nothing can stop you.
