Last year, to encourage youth participation in Football, FAS along with H-TWO-O and the Institute of Technical Education organised the H-TWO-O Ultimate Champions League for ITE students.
Such is the success it has proved to be, the H-TWO-O Ultimate Champions League will once again take centrestage come this April, but with a twist. This year’s tournament will see teams from the Ministry of Education and the ITE vying for top and also individual honors.
In the 2010 H-TWO-O Champions League, three ITE students were presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when they were announced as winners of the Exemplary Players awards. They embarked on an all-expense-paid 5-day Barclays Premier League adventure, witnessing the hustle and bustle of London and an electrifying match between Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers.
Second of four children, Seah Si Hao (one of the 3 Exemplary Player award winners) was offered a spot in Balestier Khalsa’s youth development programme after he impressed in the 2010 H-TWO-O Ultimate Champions League.
However, due to school and financial commitments, he allowed this opportunity slip past him as he focused on juggling studies and a part-time job. He feels that sacrificing the game he loves is necessary to ease his family’s financial plight, and fulfill his growing desire for a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering at one of Singapore’s top polytechnics, Singapore Polytechnic.
The impact that the H-TWO-O BPL trip had on Si Hao was magnified when he joined residents from Darul Ihsan Boys’ Orphanage for a game of football. Realising that the residents from the orphanage were lacking the basic footwork, he decided that he would commit himself to a total of 12 training sessions, imparting all the basic footwork that he had learnt from FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic during his involvement in the 2010 H-TWO-O Champions League Skills Assessment Programme to the underprivileged.
With the help of H-TWO-O, Si Hao approached the Muslimin Trust Fund Association, who willingly obliged. Si Hao and 13 compatriots will be committing their free time to conducting two training sessions per week with the residents at the Darul Ihsan Boys’ Orphanage.
Involved in this programme is Deen Martin. The 14-year-old made a name for himself by scoring a brace in the recent S.League Cares, TAKE ACTION with Albirex Niigata (Singapore) Charity Match featuring former Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata.
For the next six weeks, Deen Martin will be joined by 34 other residents of the Darul Ihsan Orphanage at this football clinic held at the Darul Ihsan Orphange in MacPherson every Friday and Sunday from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.
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