Grassroots ● Jul 23, 2018
Spreading football fun to the community
While the rest of Singapore was sound asleep in the wee hours, a group of close to 200 football enthusiasts were gathered at Our Tampines Hub for the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Midnight Football Challenge 2018 on Saturday 21 July 2018.
A total of 16 Women’s teams and 20 Men’s teams joined the unique five-a-side tournament which was held from 9pm on Saturday until 4am on Sunday. The number of teams in both categories had to be increased from their original allocation due to overwhelming interest in the competition.
Lim Xiwen, who participated in the Women’s category with her team Sunday Sundae, said: “It was a well-organised tournament. Most importantly, I believe all the participants had fun. It’s good to see an increase in friendly competitions for the grassroots, especially in women’s football.”
As part of the FAS’ ongoing efforts to bring football to the community, a Seniors’ Walking Football event was also held for the elderly last Saturday. Approximately 110 seniors from various Senior Activity Centres and Welfare Homes across Singapore participated in simple football drills facilitated by certified grassroots coaches from the FAS before they took part in five-a-side games to end the hour-long session at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Young Lions captain Taufiq Muqminin who was present at the session, said: “It’s great to see the participants, some of whom are long-time supporters of the Young Lions, having this opportunity to play football on the field. I like how the walking element in Walking Football allows for the less agile seniors to still be able to participate in the sport.”
Taufiq and fellow Young Lions teammate Sharul Nizam had the opportunity to interact with the seniors – some of whom have been long time supporters of the Young Lions – before their Singapore Premier League match against Hougang United FC.
FAS Acting General Secretary Mr Yazeen Buhari said: “In many ways, the sport of football has the ability to bring the communities together and it is this element that provided the impetus behind the various activities during the Singapore Football Festival.
“Last week, as part of our efforts to encourage active aging, we held the Seniors’ Walking Football at the Jalan Besar Stadium to engage with the young-at-heart and give them an avenue to participate in the sport. A week later at Our Tampines Hub, we held the FAS Midnight Football Challenge that saw droves of amateur male and female teams sign up to battle it out into the twilight hours.
“Our Tampines Hub also saw the participation of 44 school teams in the inaugural Singapore Pools-FAS U10 Inter-School Futsal Challenge earlier this week.
“Catering to various age-groups of the community, there has been no lack of footballing fun by various organisers. It is heartening to see so many stakeholders and partners co-share and commit to the vision in bringing the community together at this Festival.”
The FAS will continue to engage and bring together different groups of people in the community through the beautiful game of football.
Please see below the results of the 2018 FAS Midnight Football Challenge:
Women’s
Tampines Changkat CSC emerged victorious after beating Team Timun 1-0 on penalties (0-0 at full-time).
Champions: Tampines Changkat CSC
First runners-up: Team Timun
Second runners-up: Chili Kani
Men’s
SGFUTSAL 16 emerged victorious after beating Team Happy Family 1-0 on penalties (0-0 at full-time).
Champions: SGFUTSAL 16
First runners-up: Team Happy Family
Second runners-up: Knockout
