By Genevieve Jiang

IT was a routine that John, then 11, had become too familiar with.

His drunken father would first lock the door, close the windows, and blast the radio or television.

Then the horror would begin.

Whenever John's father returned home reeking of alcohol, the boy's heart would sink.

John - whom we are not identifying because he is a minor - would watch helplessly as his father rained blows on his mother.

Two years ago, his mother, stricken with chicken pox, collapsed after another beating.

John panicked and sought help from a neighbour, who told him to call the police.

It was the only time John reported his father to the police.

His mother was hospitalised for a few days.

Today, John's family is getting help from community workers at the Asian Women's Welfare Association Family Service Centre (AWWA FSC).

After school, he goes to the centre's youth drop-in programme, where he is guided in schoolwork and trained in activities such as football and running.

John, now 13 and a Secondary 1 student, has moved from being last in class to being in the top six.

He is also a good soccer player.

His team beat 43 others to make the finals of a youth street soccer tournament organised by AWWA and Brother International.

He is a far cry from the boy of two years ago, who played truant and hung out at void decks and carparks till the wee hours, to avoid going home after school.

John, who has a brother, 6, told The New Paper: 'My father would come home drunk at least three times a week and beat my mother.

'Sometimes, he would also beat me, but my mother bore the brunt of it.'

It wasn't until the police referred John's mother to AWWA FSC that help arrived.

His father was charged in court for family violence and the couple were ordered to go for counselling at AWWA.

Help for wife

Said Mr Mani Joseph, a senior counsellor there: 'We tried to arm John's mother with certain techniques to avoid getting beaten, such as locking herself in the room when she saw the warning signs.

'Her husband didn't let her have a handphone, so we taught her to dismantle the phone and hide the parts around the room.

'During emergencies, she could quickly put the phone together and call for help.'

At the time, John was getting little supervision at home and doing poorly at school and he used soccer as an escape from the violence.

His father, a contractor, and his mother, a saleswoman, often worked long hours.

Although John did not get into serious trouble, he was warned once by the police for throwing bricks down a block of flats. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Said Mr Joseph: 'John didn't have a proper, healthy way to channel his energy. If he had been left unchecked, he could have gone astray.'

Things have since improved, with his parents still undergoing counselling to sort out their marital problems.

Said Mr Joseph: 'We noticed John was interested in soccer. So we used it to motivate him to do well in other aspects like his schoolwork.

'We told him he had to do well in school if he wanted to take part in soccer competitively. It worked.'

Playing for hope

STREET soccer reaching out to more youths like John and their families - that is what Mr Tim Oei, AWWA's chief operating officer, hopes to achieve with its street soccer tournament.

'We hope to get kids off the streets and channel their energy into meaningful activities.

'With this tournament, we may also reach out to the children's families, who may have issues with the elderly or the disabled. We can then help them through our various services,' he said.

The tournament, organised by AWWA and Brother International, attracted 44 boys and five girls teams.

The finals will be on 15 Nov at the Kallang Community Club, from 9.30am to2pm.

Eight MPs, including Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, will play an exhibition match that day. The event is open to the public.

This article was first published in The New Paper on 7 Nov 2008.