NFA U16s Exemplify Technical Director’s Mission of Making Better Players and Better Persons

On their recent training trip to Bangkok, the National Football Academy (NFA) Under-16 team took some time off football to give back to society when they visited the Thungmahamek Home for Boys in the Sathorn-Yannawa district.

The visit to the orphanage on 12 June 2016 was a key component of the team’s character education programme, an initiative that began last year for all NFA teams.

“We are taking the lessons learnt in a classroom setting and translating it into a practical setting for which the values that have been discussed are further applied and reinforced. The objective is to mould and shape young minds to think, act and behave in a manner that becomes a positive force and influence in society,” said Varatha Rajan, General Manager, Youth Development.

“Like our Technical Director Michel Sablon said recently, we are not just concerned about developing better players, but also want to contribute to Singapore by grooming them into better persons. I believe this programme, and activities such as this visit, will go some way to helping us with that aim,” he affirmed.

At the orphanage, our young footballers – along with their coach, former national captain Nazri Nasir, and the other backroom staff – distributed food to the residents and had a short kickabout with them.

“It was a truly eye-opening experience for us. It taught us that we are very fortunate to live the lives we enjoy in Singapore, and inspires me to want to do more for the less privileged people in society in future,” said team captain Akmal bin Azman.

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