Seven more youth footballers awarded Unleash The Roar! overseas scholarships

SINGAPORE – Just five days after her exploits at the inaugural Lion City Cup girls’ competition, Singapore’s Chantale Lamasan made history by becoming the first goalkeeper from either gender to receive the Unleash the Roar! (UTR) overseas football scholarship.

She was one of seven recipients, aged between 14 and 16, to be awarded the scholarship at Parkroyal on Beach Road on July 17.

Chantale will be heading to IMG Academy in Florida, United States, for a three-year tenure and is excited to continue her development at the same institution as the previous two batches of recipients.

“Going online (and) seeing the school, it’s really huge. In IMG there are like 16 football pitches and a huge gym. Hopefully, (I will) have the freedom to work on myself and improve over there,” said the 16-year-old, who noted that the training facilities are a far cry from those in Singapore, which are “quite hard to get”.

The Singapore Sports School (SSP) student added: “It’s exciting for me to try out how different goalkeepers from different countries train, especially from such a big powerhouse like (the) US.”

Chantale was part of the Lion City Cup squad that finished second behind champions South Korea in the four-team tournament. Despite conceding nine goals against the Koreans, she recalls how that was “the best moment for me”.

She said: “Looking back on it, not only did I have the most to do (in that game), I actually played a full 90-minute match against such a strong opponent.

“We were 5-0 down at half-time. I think in the past, I would have cried in the locker room. It’ll be game over for me. But I feel like now, living in the moment, I just think as positively as possible. It’s not 5-0. It’s ‘I tried my best’.”

Being a goalkeeper, she understands how “draining it can be mentally” and she hopes that her scholarship will change the wider perspective around the position.

“On social media, I always see how a goalkeeper can make 10,000 saves but one mistake that cost them the game will always (look) bad on the goalkeeper.

“(But) I think I’m appreciating the position a lot (more) now. Having the whole team rely on me to be their last line of defence is an honour,” said Chantale, who cites German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as her inspiration.

This batch of UTR scholarship winners has only one boy in Edan McCulloch, who became the youngest ever recipient of the award. He will be attached to Rayo Alcobendas, a top youth side in Madrid, Spain.

The SSP student, who received the scholarship on the eve of his 14th birthday, downplayed any nerves over the prospect of living away from his family.

“In sports school, I was boarding there five days a week so I’m quite used to the system where I’d only see my parents (for) two days. But this will be a bigger challenge,” said Edan, whose father is Scottish and mother Singaporean.

Edan, who transferred out of Dulwich College to join SSP in 2024, considers the opportunity to train abroad as “a leap of faith”.

The attacking midfielder added: “I was there (Dulwich) for nine years. I left all my friends and went to a new school so that I can improve my abilities. It’s a big step but it’s also a big achievement. I’m very excited to face this challenge.”

The other recipients are all from the Lion City Cup girls’ squad – Liyana Rickit, Seri Nurinsyirah, Verona Lim, Yuvika Suresh and Celine Koh, younger sister of Chloe, who was part of the inaugural cohort. They are the first pair of siblings to receive the UTR scholarship.

Celine, 15, said: “I saw how much my sister grew during her time in IMG Academy. It inspired me to aim for this. Now that I’ve earned this opportunity, I want to make the most of it and continue pushing the limits.”