Five S’pore schools hold football tournament to give boys not on school teams chance to compete

SINGAPORE - Secondary 3 student Achint Singh had big dreams of representing his school in football when he joined Tampines Secondary School.

The budding goalkeeper, who has been playing football since he was nine, had shown his talent in the sport through the Direct School Admission scheme, which allows pupils to clinch places in secondary schools early.

But in Secondary 1, an awkward fall during football training left him with a broken collarbone and shattered dreams. The injury meant he could no longer dive to his right to save goals, and he was assigned to centre-back, a role that was new to him. 

Frustrated, he started to skip football training sessions, and was on the verge of quitting.

After that, the only competition he took part in was his school’s inter-class games.

Achint was especially grateful when his school teamed up with four other secondary schools for the first time to hold a football tournament on Aug 29, for students who do not get the chance to compete with peers from other schools.

“If you play with the people you know, then it’s not as challenging, because you already know if they’re good or not. But if you play with people from different schools, you have to play your best as you’ve never seen them play,” he said.

Achint was one of 108 students who braved the afternoon sun during the one-day tournament.

Nine teams from five schools – Beatty Secondary, Tampines Secondary, Hougang Secondary, Springfield Secondary and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary – showed up for the seven-a-side tournament, called Glory and Grit 7s, at Beatty Secondary School that day.

The top three teams were awarded medals, and the winning team from Springfield Secondary clinched the challenge trophy. All players received certificates of participation.

Glory and Grit 7s is the brainchild of Mr Sivaneson Krishnamoorthy from Beatty Secondary School and Mr Vicknesh Kunnasekaran from Hougang Secondary School.

As the teachers in charge of their schools’ football teams, they wanted to do more to engage players who missed out on school team representation.

Mr Vicknesh said students are often disappointed when they are not selected for the school team, and many want to improve their skills. “As teachers, we notice this, and hence we try to source more opportunities, more games or competitive tournaments for the students to participate in,” he said.

Mr Sivaneson said around 15 of 60 students in Beatty’s football co-curricular activity (CCA) are not on the school team.

“We encourage the boys to use sport to help them become better versions of themselves, on and off the field,” he said, adding that they learn values like discipline, resilience and empathy.

“Once that starts to show development, then the footballing aspects will follow.”

He added: “Through opportunities like this tournament, students can be further motivated and excited to work on these attributes.”

Though football training involves technical drills, such as passing and ball control, and tactical play, Mr Vicknesh said it is only during competitions that players get to experience making decisions under pressure.

He added that some of the boys were school team players who did not get much opportunity to play or were benched due to injuries.

“So this was something that they have been looking forward to – to play, to compete, and of course, they want to win the trophy,” said Mr Vicknesh.

The schools will need to review whether another tournament will be in the works, but so far, the teachers agree that the boys seem eager for another round of competition.

Achint said he liked the intensity of the tournament and the opportunity to practise positioning himself on the field against unfamiliar opponents.

“I enjoyed our team spirit. Even after we conceded a goal, we kept pushing and scored a goal.”

Aliff Firdhaus, 14, was disappointed not to make the school team when he joined Beatty Secondary School’s football CCA.

“I felt discouraged, like I hadn’t put in enough effort,” said Aliff, who had spent much of his primary school days playing the game under his block with friends and older players.

The tournament experience, he added, has motivated him to train harder and aim for a spot on the school team in the coming years.

“To impress the coaches, I know I need to give 100 per cent, not be scared, and fight for every ball until the last second,” he said.

Aliff hopes such tournaments will become a regular feature of school life, as it gave him a chance to finally feel like part of his school’s team and represent the school at competitions.

“It’s intense, not like friendlies where you just play for experience. Here, you push yourself harder because you can actually win something,” he said.