SINGAPORE — A total of S$265,000 was raised during the inaugural Tasek Sailors Charity Football fundraiser held at Lion City Sailors Training Centre on Sunday, June 25, with Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam gracing the event alongside members of parliament, Tin Pei Ling and Shawn Huang.
The event over the weekend brought together the enthusiastic participation of 24 corporate organizations and 14 boys and girls teams from various schools that came together in the spirit of friendly competition and community interest. The funds raised from the football fundraiser will be used towards empowering and uplifting disadvantaged youth across Singapore through a holistic development program put together by the Tasek Sailors, a joint initiative of the Lion City Sailors and Tasek Football Academy.
“It’s wonderful to see such strong support for the Tasek Sailors initiative. It’s part of how we must help everyone discover their strengths, including the talents they never knew they had, and to gain respect for each other’s strengths. Sports brings that out in so many of the young people we have been working with,” said Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also patron of Tasek Jurong.
Sunday’s Charity Football tournament that was hosted at the Lion City Sailors Training Centre saw the enthusiastic participation of corporate supporters and schools that came together in the spirit of friendly competition and community interest.
“It’s wonderful to see such strong support for the Tasek Sailors initiative. It’s part of how we must help everyone discover their strengths, including the talents they never knew they had, and gain respect for each other’s strengths. Sports brings that out in so many of the young people we have been working with,” said Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also Patron of Tasek Jurong.
SM Tharman was one of the three Guests of Honour who graced the event along with Members of Parliament, Ms. Tin Pei Ling and Mr Shawn Huang.
The event showcased Singaporeans’ passion for football – and just how effective the sport can be in bringing the community together – and also demonstrated the collective commitment to supporting young individuals who face challenging circumstances.
Former Singapore national footballers such as Fandi Ahmad, Lionel Lewis, Rafi Ali, Baihakki Khaizan, and Aleksandar Duric were also present as they took part in a celebrity exhibition match during the event. Deloitte was crowned the winner in the open category tournament as they defeated UB Morgan 2-0 in the final. Sailors B10 were the champions of the Boys Under-11 category, and Sailors White ended the day as champions of the Girls Under-14 tournament.
Tasek Jurong’s senior manager Dr Ain Azman believes that Tasek Sailor’s support for girls’ football has created an impact on the player’s development, and he is looking forward towards more such initiatives.
“We’ve already seen the effect that our programme has had and we’re excited to see how much we can further the development of girls. There are several girls under the Tasek umbrella who are looking forward to the program being set in motion, and we also witnessed in the girls’ tournament today that we are not short on talent either. It will be fantastic to see just what more Singaporean girls can do with more structured support,” shared Dr Ain.
Lion City Sailors Academy General Manager Tan Li Yu expressed her heartfelt gratitude to all participants and sponsors who contributed to the success of the football fundraiser.
“There are also several supporters who worked hard behind the scenes to breathe life into the event. While we are delighted to witness such an outpouring of support, we know the real work for us starts now, channelling funds raised to where they can effectively help – and we are looking forward to getting properly started,” said Tan.
Tasek Sailors will focus on building up the capabilities of the Tasek Sailors Football Academy before introducing their outreach programs to deliver professional football coaching and structure mentorship programs to empower more Singaporean youth.
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