Crucial football programme kicks off

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) carried out the soft launch of its new weekly Cubs grassroots football programme yesterday morning at Sembawang Primary School.

The programme, which will officially kick off on April 19, is spearheaded by FAS vice-president Bernard Tan and is part of an ongoing effort to expand Singapore football's talent pool by reaching out to boys and girls aged 7 to 12.

The first session was attended by 48 students from Sembawang Primary, which does not offer football as a co-curricular activity, and future sessions are open to students from primary schools in the area.

They paid $50 to sign up for the first month - the fee includes a set of Cubs football attire - and $24 per month thereafter.

Tan said: "If I can get half of the primary schools in Singapore involved in this, I will be really happy... I am realistic though.

"Not all schools have the facilities for football and not all schools have the inclination. We can't force them.

"The FAS' aim is to facilitate, which means our guys coming down to help the schools that are interested to form an enrichment programme that meets both the schools' and our goals.

"For now, Sembawang Primary is the start and we hope to have eight centres by this year, and build on that."

This article was first published on April 6, 2015.
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