By Aathmika Viju-Pany (Captain) and Trisha Sivakumar (Vice-Captain)
The rush of adrenaline at the starting whistle, the cheering of the spectators as you run with the ball, and the breathless elation of scoring of a goal… at the heart of each game lies our passion for football.
Desire. Work hard. Believe. This motto pulls us through every training, every win and every loss.
This motto was introduced to us by our Coach, Mr Leong. He plans every training session meticulously and pushes us to be the best versions of ourselves! He has a warm personality and is a constant figure in our team, never failing to make us laugh during training sessions. Given his years of experience, he has a sharp eye for our strengths and weaknesses, and shares tactics tailored to our team. Even if you are a beginner, he optimises your strengths and uses it to the team’s advantage on the field.
In Football Girls, everyone is like family to one another. On the pitch, we encourage one another, learning the importance of perseverance and teamwork. Off the pitch, we often go for team dinners where we catch up on our days and laugh our hearts out. We have built a strong, interconnected community that includes not only our players but also our supportive coaches, dedicated alumni, and caring teachers, who come down during training sessions, offering advice and encouragement to help us continually improve our skills. On or off the pitch, football is a wholesome community where you will find a strong support system in RI.
To all newcomers to the sport, fret not! As football is a developmental sport in RI, some of our teammates had little to no experience in this sport. We’re only looking for one thing — passion! With passion, our coaches will be able to guide you, alongside a team who will stick by you throughout your football journey. We treasure every one of our members and always encourage one another to become better players.
We train thrice a week, with Physical Training on Mondays from 5-7 pm, and ball training on Tuesdays and Fridays from 4:30-7:30 pm. Although it seems like a lot, football is something that we look forward to the most during the week! We enjoy every moment on the field as it gives us a chance to bond with our teammates and forget about all the worries of JC life.
On Mondays, Mr Leong gives us specific workouts, ranging from sprints to intervals to long distance runs. He focuses on improving our stamina and speed, which are essential in 90-minute games. During ball training on Tuesday and Fridays, we focus on targeted drills to hone our, positioning, attacking, and defending. Lastly, we end training sessions with a full field game among ourselves.
Apart from regular training sessions, we often have friendly matches with other schools to put our skills to the test. Our coach also organises video analysis sessions where we learn from each other’s strengths and mistakes. We build an open community by communicating our areas of improvement with each other openly and honestly.
Something to look forward to is the end of year camp, a 5-day training programme where we train on field and play back-to-back friendlies, working our way towards our National School Games (NSGs) held during April to May every year. We clinched 3rd place during the 2022 National School Games, put up a very good fight in 2023 and attained 4th place in 2024.
RI Football Girls is a team, a family and a home. You’ll always have one another to rely on and support you through the good and bad times. Furthermore, you can look forward to having fun every session and growing together as a team. So, if you have the passion for football and wish to try something different, come for our trials! Our trials only require fundamental soccer skills; basic passing, shooting, and trapping of balls.
This is the mantra that our coach has instilled in every football girl:
Every girl can play football.
We are friends before footballers.
We build a family before building a football team.
We have the desire; we work hard; we believe.
But we will always remember to have fun.
The longer you are in the CCA, the more you will understand:
It’s not really all about football.
