Junior Soccer School & League's 7-a-side tournament gets bigger and better

A record 120 teams from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will take part in the Junior Football School & League (JSSL) Singapore International Football 7's this weekend.

Organisers JSSL-Arsenal also increased the number of age-groups for the annual 7-a-side youth football tournament held at the Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore Recreation Club at the Padang.

The boys' competition will feature five age-groups - Under-9s, U-11s, U-12s, U-13s and U-15s - up from four last year.

GIRLS' COMPETITIONS

For the first time in the competition, there will be two age-group competitions for girls - Under-13s and Under-15s.

JSSL-Arsenal's general manager Harvey Davis said yesterday: "We wanted to show people that we can scale up and retain our quality at the same time.

"We know there's a demand because we see it's not just the kids who are involved, but their parents and families all come along in the name of having a good time."

Shamini Flint will be cheering on her 12-year-old daughter, Sasha, who is part of the JSSL's Under-13 girls' team. The 44-year-old praised the organisers for coming up with a girls' competition.

"Usually, there are not enough female teams, so the girls have to go against the boys and you can't really see how good they are," said Flint.

"Having two age-group competitions for girls shows a commitment to give equal chances to boys and girls who want to play." The group stages will be played tomorrow and the knockout rounds and finals will take place on Sunday.

Interested parties can visit www.jssl-singapore7s.com for more information.

This article was published on May 9 in The New Paper.

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