Top school football captains enjoy exclusive superstar experience with Nike

By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Nike Flagship Store, Wisma Atria, Friday, May 21, 2010 – “I felt really excited to be part of this, it was really good to have such opportunities!” 14-year-old Siglap Secondary captain Mahathir B Azeman exclaimed.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to be treated like a real soccer player. Hotel suite, clothing provided. Awesome stuff!” echoed 18-year-old Meridian Junior College (MJC) captain Cohen Tan, whose team was crowned this year’s A Division football champions just two days ago.

The two of them with another 28 top school football captains enjoyed an exclusive VIP experience courtesy of Nike yesterday. The 30 of them were specially picked up from their schools and homes in luxurious stretch limousines that whisked them to a premium suite in a five-star hotel. This was where they were kitted in the finest Nike apparel and also had a rare taste of the life of a football superstar.

They were then escorted to the newly created Nike Players’ Lounge at the Nike Flagship Store in Wisma Atria for its official launch where Singapore national team coach Raddy Avramovic and prominent ex-national captains Fandi Ahmad, Nazri Nasir, Indra Sahdan, Aide Iskandar, David Lee and Terry Pathmanathan welcomed their arrival.

“It is good to recognise the efforts of these boys who play at the school level,” Nazri said. “They can bring this great experience back and share with his schoolmates. I can’t remember back in my playing days that there are such VIP opportunities!”

“This experience can inspire them to work hard and achieve something in their personal footballing life,” commented Aide. “It will also be useful when they become regulars of the national team in the future.”

The players’ lounge is created within the store and is aimed at being the premium football destination in Singapore whereby a diverse community of young football lovers can be set up and meet up to talk, feel and breathe the beautiful game.

“It is definitely a good initiative as it works as a good meeting point for these youngsters,” Aide said. “Once footballers get together, they will share information and interact with each other. It can really inspire them to be active in the footballing field.”

At the lounge, Nike officially launched their ‘Write the Future’ campaign and their inaugural Nike Cup Singapore 2010 competition.

The players were shown the exclusive full ‘Write the Future’ film directed by renowned Hollywood director Alejandro G Inarritu which features famous players Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo. The video showcased how a moment of brilliance can rewrite headlines and bring joy to a nation while demoralising others.

The Nike Cup Singapore 2010 is a fast-paced five-on-five football tournament open to footballers aged 14 to 19 years old. The competition will be played in urban areas of Singapore such as abandoned schools, car parks and in the heart of Orchard Road.

The tournament aims to let these budding footballers experience how football was played in the olden days. The winners will get to experience a five-day, all-expense paid football training experience in Rio De Janeiro.

Siglap Secondary captain Mahathir B Azeman seemed excited about the prospect of playing in the Nike Cup.

“This Nike Cup is really good as we will have more opportunities to impress the coaches who watch us play,” he said.

Nazri Nasir was also impressed with the idea of the tournament.

“This is definitely a good idea. Nowadays not many kids know we grew playing football in such a way, so this tournament can let them experience that,” Nazri commented. “It’s really back to those days where I was a kid, playing street soccer barefooted!”

The young captains also enjoyed the invaluable opportunity to listen to national team coach Raddy Avramovic share about what makes a good captain.

“The captain should not be chosen by the coach, but by the players. He should be someone that can be depended on to not just lead them on the field, but off it as well,” explained Raddy.

“You got to be patient, have a lot of determination and be able to sacrifice in order to succeed. Football is about enjoyment, you must take your chance to be recognised as you can make a lot of friends along the way!” he added.

They then had the honour to receive exclusive ‘Write the Future’ armbands from the six former national captains. Each of them was given an elite membership card for access to the Nike Players’ Lounge.

Judging from the giggles and laughter, the young players certainly enjoyed the experience of getting up close with the former national captains especially when they spoke about their experience in playing football in the olden days.

“I remembered playing on the basketball court with a small plastic 30-cent ball with 30 players all charging at the ball at once!” Fandi recounted.

“I recalled gathering old newspapers and bundling them together to form a football. We would play in all sorts of conditions and even use a tennis ball!” Terry Pathmanathan exclaimed.

Singapore’s favourite footballing son Fandi Ahmad, who played in Europe back in the 1980s, talked about his experience of interacting with these young footballers after the launch.

“Young footballers these days have everything in favour of them. The equipment and training available for them amazing!” he said. “During the limousine ride, I told many stories about my playing days to these kids. Many of them have not watched me play before and I even had to introduce who I am!”

“Actually I don’t like to be the captain!” joked Fandi initially when quizzed about how he commanded the respect of his teammates in his four years as national team captain. “But it was a big honour for me to lead the national team.”

He added a piece of advice for the 30 young captains, “As the captain, you have to lead by example both on and off the pitch. You will have to represent my players to speak to the coach regarding their needs. Most of all, you will really need discipline and determine to succeed.”

MJC captain Cohen Tan was one of many who felt enriched after listening to the football experiences of the former national captain.

“I feel that they are the role models of many young Singaporeans including myself,” Cohen said. “Without them Singapore football would not be at such a high level.”

“Personally it was an enriching experience to be able to get up close and personal with them,” he added.

To find out more about ‘Write the Future’ campaign, you may join
the Nike Football Singapore Facebook group.

To find out more about the Nike Cup, you may log onto its official link on the Nike website.