MY EXPERIENCE IN SINGAPORE AT THE SINGA CUP 2017 by Yajas Dinesh (VII B)

I love football and train with FCBEscola NCR India (“FCBEscola”). One day, my coaches and the India Technical Director of FCB told me that I was selected to represent FCBEscola Delhi in the Singa Cup 2017 (U12) to be held in Singapore from November 6-9, 2017. I was thrilled with the news!

Singa Cup is Asia’s premier international youth football tournament. Over 50 football clubs, academies and school teams from across Australia and Asia - Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, participate and vie for the prestigious Singa Cup every year in November.

On November 3^rd (Friday) i.e. the night prior to my flight to Singapore, I wasn’t able to sleep due to a tremendous amount of excitement in my head. My flight was on the 4^th of November at 11:30pm. The Under 12 Team of which I was a part , comprised footballers from across the different FCBEsola training centers in NCR (Gurgaon, IOS, Saket and Noida). However, I knew most of my team members well having played various tournaments with them in the past. This was my second international tournament and I was doubly excited.

We were instructed by our coaches and the management committee that all teams that were part of the travelling group were supposed to report at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi (Terminal 3) by 7:00pm at a designated spot. There were three FCBEscola teams in total participating in the Singa Cup, across three age groups – (i) Under 10 team (U10) (ii) Under 12 team (U12) (iii) Under 14 team (U14). I was part of the U12 Team. The Tournament follows a format of 60 minute matches to be played with eleven players on one side. As you can imagine, 11 players a side would mean that matches are played on large sized professional football grounds and astro turfs. Playing on such large sized turf puts one's stamina and skills to real test. 

Because we were participating in a Tournament, we were briefed by our coaches and our Technical Director to adhere to a strict code of conduct for the entire duration of the trip. So we had to be very disciplined about reporting for meal times, wake up time, lights off time, assembly for coach transfers, eating healthy, no phones or electronic gadgets etc. We were told to make the most of the trip by focusing on our game, meeting and making new friends/footballers across the sub – continent. 

Coming back to the Airport, once all of us assembled at the Airport, all of us (coaches and teams) got into the Airport and went through the various security clearances and immigration and were finally at the designated gate to board our flight. Our coaches were Coach Apoorva and Coach Monica, both very professional and very caring people. They were with us for the entire trip and always made sure that we were comfortable and doing fine. We had a good flight to Singapore. 

We had a tight itinerary to follow over the next few days which was full of various matches, team building and some sightseeing exercise. Once we landed in Singapore, we boarded a waiting bus which took us to St. Patrick’s School, Singapore where we played a  friendly match against our Singaporean  counterparts (FCBEscola Singapore). We won the match 2-1 and were thrilled with the promising start of our tour. The Singa Cup was to begin the next day (Nov 6). After our match with FCBEscola Singapore, we went for a nice lunch to an Indian restaurant and then headed to our hotel. We got allotted our rooms by our coaches and my roommates were from FCBEscola Noida, which was great. A dip at the hotel swimming pool during ‘Pool Time’ energized us despite the long day. 

The next morning (i.e., Nov 6) we had a early start. We quickly gathered at the lobby, had a good healthy breakfast and reported at the football turf, called ‘The Cage’ for our first Singa Cup match against a Singaporean team.  We won that match 3 - 2 and were ecstatic. We had a great Day 1 of the Tournament. The next day (Nov 7), we played against a Malaysian team, and despite putting up a good fight, we lost 4-0. Our next match the same day was against Australian Team which we lost narrowly (1-0). We enjoyed giving these matches our best shot and putting our skills to test. After a long and tiring but very fulfilling day, we retired in bed after a good dinner. The following day (Nov 8) was a very important day for us as were playing for the positions in the Tournament. Our match was against an Indonesian team which we won 3 - 0. We were again on top of the world because it was a very tough match against a strong opponent, which made the win all the more special! So, all in all, out of 41 teams, FCBEscola Delhi was ranked 11^th in the Tournament. 

After all the hard work, sweat and toil, it was time for some team building and sight - seeing which was organized for us. We went for a day trip to Sentosa Island which was great. We took a cable car ride at Sentosa.  We also managed a bit of shopping for ourselves and our families as we wanted to take back mementos for them. Then we boarded our bus and got back to the Hotel where all of us spent time in the swimming pool and enjoyed as a team, with our coaches and technical director. 

After dinner, our coaches held a one - on - one session with us to ask each one of us for our feedback about the trip in general, and the matches in particular. They also had feedback for us. After a long and exhausting day, we returned to the rooms where I quickly packed my bags and fell asleep. The next day was a real early start because we had our flight back to India. This time round, my flight partners were total strangers as they were all grown-ups. So I just slept off. I only woke up when we landed in Delhi. After getting off the plane, going through the necessary formalities and retrieving our bags, we saw our parents waiting for us outside the Airport.  I met my family and had a small meal with them at the Airport itself, but exhausted by the long journey, I dozed off again as soon as I got into the car.

It was a very fascinating trip where I got to meet so many footballers from across different parts of the world and from whom I learnt not just football skills and tactics, but also about their culture and way of life. I will forever treasure the experience. 

Thank You for reading!