Singapore’s first-ever dedicated futsal academy, SG Futsal Academy, opens its doors at the newly built multi-sports arena, Homeground Sports.
In Singapore, the term futsal has been used very loosely, as it is associated with 5-aside matches played on artificial turf pitches all around the island. It is a very popular activity but not many know that this is not futsal, but simply 5-aside football.
Homeground Sports is unique as it is the only facility here that has an actual futsal surface.
Through D2D Sports, I run three “futsal” leagues, including one for the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility project. And I have been doing this for over a decade.
The rules applied in our leagues include some elements of futsal regulations, and futsal balls are used, but that’s about it when it comes to such “futsal” leagues.
With that in mind, futsal in the actual sense, is very new and niche in the republic. Singapore is the only nation in the region that doesn’t have a national futsal team, or a national futsal league.
Singapore last participated in the Asean Football Federation Futsal (AFF) Championship in 2015, and has not participated since. Before 2015, its participation has been sporadic.
SG Futsal Academy is the brainchild of Kenneth Kwang, a regular participant in futsal leagues and tournaments in Singapore.
Kwang’s vision is to raise the profile of the sport in Singapore, as he feels there is potential for growth here, and the formation of a dedicated futsal academy is a vital step towards achieving this goal.
Kwang feels that futsal is an integral part in the development of footballers, as it teaches players to develop better techniques, while the quick pace of the game forces them to spool-up their decision-making processes, as time and space are limited.
His vision is to bring Singapore to the international futsal stage, thus providing better options for budding players to progress, either in football or futsal.
Kwang hopes that through the academy, future futsal heroes can be discovered to inspire the younger generation and, set the stage for Singapore to be a strong futsal nation.
Partnering him to achieve his vision is D2D Sports, as we also provide coaching services to many schools and tertiary education institutions.
Kwang also chose to partner with us because of our experience in organising and facilitating leagues and events.
Such a partnership inspires confidence in parents to sign up and help in reaching out to the parents of the targeted demographics of four, to 12-year-olds.
The academy’s sporting director is Farhan Farook, a former professional footballer in the S-League, who played for the likes of Balestier Central, Sengkang Punggol, Home United, and Geylang United.
Farhan is also one of two Singaporeans with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Level 2 coaching certification, and was the captain of the last Singapore squad to play in the AFF Futsal Championship.
He is passionate about developing futsal in Singapore and is meticulous in how he wants to educate those who attend the training sessions so that they learn something and enjoy the sport.
Farhan is also eager to advocate coaching development and will be conducting monthly sessions for the coaches in the academy. There are also plans in place to conduct a beginner-level course for those interested in taking up futsal coaching.
The academy held a holiday camp on Dec 17-18, which was attended by the FA of Singapore’s technical director, Michael Browne, and the head of methodology and assistant technical director, Philippe Aw.
The academy has taken baby steps in raising the profile and creating awareness for futsal in its proper form. Slowly but surely, the stakeholders hope to overcome the challenges to achieve the vision that has been set.
For those interested in SG Futsal Academy, kindly visit their social media platforms: Facebook; Instagram and Tik Tok.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13. Main image from SG Futsal Academy.
