Football: Aim is to expand SFA to 16 schools by end of 2023, says FAS assistant technical director

SINGAPORE – The School Football Academy (SFA) programme aims to expand its reach to 16 schools by the end of 2023, an increase from the 12 – 10 boys’ and two girls’ squads – currently on board.

“We are now talking to schools who are interested and will bring in more schools this year,” said Football Association of Singapore (FAS) assistant technical director and head of methodology Philippe Aw on Saturday.

Launched in July 2022, the programme is a pipeline to strengthen youth football development and produce players with sound technical ability, complementing existing pathways at youth teams of local football clubs, ActiveSG and private academies.

Each SFA has a team of full-time coaches, both local and from La Liga in Spain, and they report to a head coach with an “A” licence from one of the sport’s regional governing bodies and relevant youth development experience.

This initiative stems from the Unleash The Roar! (UTR) project which aims to grow local football and push for Singapore’s bid to qualify for the 2034 Fifa World Cup. 

Under the SFA, players aged 13 to 16 will train four times a week and play significantly more games in the year, compared to those in other secondary schools, while following a structured training programme which makes use of sports science.

In addition to the National School Games, they could play in other competitions and even go for overseas training stints.

An individual development plan will be drawn up for each athlete and their performance in training and matches will be tracked regularly. This will allow coaches to assess players efficiently and implement personalised training. 

Aw said: “In a normal school, there is usually one coach to about 20 players. But in the SFA, we have goalkeeper and fitness coaches supporting the head coach. There is also support from sports science, and that is unique to us.” 

More tournaments will be organised for schools in the second half of the year to ensure players get to compete regularly and increase exposure, he added. 

One such tournament was the SFA Fiesta held at the National Stadium on Saturday, where all 12 teams played in 15-minute, eight-a-side matches.

A combined team comprising players from Methodist Girls’ School and Boon Lay Secondary School played an exhibition game against Woodlands Secondary School, while the 10 boys’ teams competed in the SFA Challenge Cup. 

The combined side won 2-0 while Anglo-Chinese School (Barker) and Serangoon Gardens Secondary School finished joint-first, beating Jurongville and Sengkang respectively in their finals. Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua, who is executive committee chairman of UTR, presented awards to the participants.

Jareth Tay, 14, who was among 20 SFA students selected for an overseas training stint in Spain last November, scored the only goal in ACS (Barker)‘s victory. 

The midfielder said: “(SFA) teaches you how to play at an intense level and also how to keep healthy in good ways. It bonds the team.”

MGS forward Chloe Koh, 15, who plays for the national Under-16 girls’ team and the Lion City Sailors, said: “I think having one of our first friendlies in the National Stadium itself is a surreal experience for all of us girls because not everyone gets to play here.”

“Overall, I hope to bond with my teammates through football and achieve a good result.”

SFA’s assistant coach and national women’s player Ernie Sontaril hopes more schools will form teams for girls and participate in the programme. 

“I would like to see the girls’ teams in Singapore grow. Once the school teams are developed, we can form a better and stronger national team in the future,” she said.