Chloe Koh set to become 2nd Singaporean female footballer to play in US’ NCAA Div 1

SINGAPORE – Having already chalked up 13 appearances with the Singapore women’s national football team, Chloe Koh added another feather to her cap after securing a place at St Bonaventure University in New York on an academic and athletic scholarship.

The 19-year-old will be only the second Singaporean female footballer to feature in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1, following in the footsteps of Putri Syaliza, who represented Oakland University in 2023.

The NCAA Division 1 is the highest and most competitive level of intercollegiate sport in the US, with many of its footballers going on to represent their nations.

Fellow Lioness Danelle Tan was the first Singaporean to be accepted into an NCAA Division 1 football programme, when she was granted a part-athletic scholarship by the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 2022. However, she opted to join German club Borussia Dortmund instead.

The first male Singapore player to do so was Danial Crichton, who in 2023 received a scholarship from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to study business management.

One of the overseas scholars under the Unleash The Roar! (UTR) national football project, Koh will be graduating from the IMG Academy in Florida in May and was considering moving out of the US after ending her three-year scholarship.

But a visit to St Bonaventure’s campus changed her mind, as the school is surrounded by nature and close to New York City. The opportunity to test herself at the NCAA Division 1 level also proved too significant to pass up.

She said: “I was actually quite set on another school at first. But when I visited St Bonaventure, I was pleasantly surprised. The coaches and players are such great people. It made the decision really easy.”

She plans to pursue a degree in psychology at the university.

The forward had played for Methodist Girls’ School and the Lion City Sailors before making her debuts with the national Under-16s and Under-19s. In 2023, the then 16-year-old earned a call-up to the senior side.

In that same year, she was part of the inaugural batch of eight teenage players who were awarded UTR overseas football scholarships. She enrolled in the IMG Academy, which has produced international footballers such as Americans Erika Tymrak and Josh Sargent.

In an earlier interview published on the website of The Kallang (formerly known as the Singapore Sports Hub), she said: “There’s a proper balance between school and football in America. In Singapore, education always comes first but in the US, there’s an equal amount of both and you have so many student-athletes across many different sports.

“If I have a long day at school, I have a break in between lessons and training to take time for myself too. The rest of the evening is to ourselves so it’s a really good balance between school, sport and my personal life.”

It also helped that she had her younger sister Celine for company in her final year at IMG Academy, as the 15-year-old began her journey there under the UTR scholarship.

On her message to Celine and other young footballers who aspire to play the sport at a higher level, she said: “Everything works out in the end, but only if you put in the work.

“The journey can be tough, but nothing is impossible. Stay grounded, keep chasing your dreams, and don’t forget to enjoy what you do.”

Indeed, Chloe had to overcome setbacks in a “very rough and stressful” recruiting journey.

Before a 2023 college showcase – in which university recruiters from around US attend to scout players – she tore her ankle ligaments and was sidelined for a month. But the resilient forward recovered to land her dream move.

She said: “This is my first short-term goal ticked off. Now, my next goal is to make the game-day roster and get some game time as a freshman. Most importantly, I just want to enjoy the process.”

Yeong Sheau Shyan, the Football Association of Singapore’s council member and women’s committee chairwoman, noted that Koh’s move to an NCAA Division 1 programme is a “positive step” for her development.

She said: “It places her in a more competitive and structured environment. Such exposure is valuable for any player’s development, and this experience will be important for her progression moving forward.”