5 Schools Hold Football Tournament to Give Boys Not on School Teams a Chance to Compete

Secondary 3 student Achint Singh had big dreams of representing his school in football when he joined Tampines Secondary School.

- Elisha Tushara Correspondent and Shermaine Ang

The budding goalkeeper, who has been playing football since he was nine, had shown his talent in the sport through the Direct School Admission scheme, which allows pupils to clinch places in secondary schools early.

But in Secondary 1, an awkward fall during football training left him with a broken collarbone and shattered dreams. The injury meant he could no longer dive to his right to save goals, and he was assigned to centre-back, a role that was new to him.

Frustrated, he started to skip football training sessions, and was on the verge of quitting.

After that, the only competition he took part in was his school's inter-class games.

Achint was especially grateful when his school teamed up with four other secondary schools for the first time to hold a football tournament on Aug 29, for students who do not get the chance to compete with peers from other schools.

"If you play with the people you know, then it's not as challenging, because you already know if they're good or not. But if you play with people from different schools, you have to play your best as you've never seen them play," he said.

Achint was one of 108 students who braved the afternoon sun during the one-day tournament.