UTR! Pathways and Partnerships Ceremony on 26 July 2026

Mr Desmond Ong and Mr Toh Boon Yi, Co-Chairs of the UTR! EXCO School Principals and Teachers

Parents, Coaches, and our Young Athletes

Ladies and Gentlemen

• Good evening. It is my pleasure to join all of you here this evening in this wonderful occasion.

• Today, we celebrate our young football talents who have great potential and more importantly, passion and determination to take their football development to the next level.

The Road to Football Excellence

• Singapore football is a sport that is close to all of our hearts.  Many of us remember the proud moments that brought the nation together, and the players who remain household names to this day. We also remember the difficult games, when results did not go our way and many asked how we could get Singapore football back on track. We did not stand still, we planned and we acted.

• Today, we see many encouraging signs. Our Lions have qualified by merit for the Asian Cup for the very first time, and we are very proud of them. They will take the pitch against opponents such as Australia, Iraq, and Tajikistan next year in Saudi Arabia.

• We want to build on this momentum by developing a steady pipeline of players, so that more talented, young football players like all of you can wear the Singapore jersey and make our nation proud.

Investing in Youth Development

• To raise our game, we need both passion as well as a long-term plan that prioritises youth development by creating more opportunities to compete, and have a clear pathway for those who can and want to pursue elite football and represent Singapore.

• So we started Unleash The Roar! (UTR!) in 2021, and the initial results have been promising.

  • The UTR! Initiative started with the School Football Academy, or SFA, programme to expand the base of footballers in structured development programmes, complementing community as well as private football offerings for youths. The SFAs are doing well. The combined school team comprising girls from Methodist Girls’, Boon Lay, and Westwood Secondary won last year’s National School Games.

  • We also launched the Singapore Youth League (SYL) where over 6,000 youths each play an average of 30 competitive matches a year. Through regular competition in the SYL, our aspiring youth players gain valuable match experience and also hone their football skills.

  • And we also established our National Development Centre, or NDC to strengthen our talent identification efforts by identifying and developing the best young talents through high-intensity and structured training.

  • Our NDC is housed at the state-of-the-art Kallang Football Hub, a world-class home for our national teams. Having a dedicated, purpose-built facility allows our young talents to train at their best.

  • Complementing these pathways is the ActiveSG Football Academy, or AFA, which offers affordable grassroots programmes across 17 centres islandwide. AFA remains a fundamental pillar of our ecosystem, with participation growing significantly from just 500 youths in 2016 to over 4,000 today.

  • Whether through AFA, SFA, or SYL, our youth development programmes also provide holistic approaches to sports and studies to inculcate values of teamwork, respect, and resilience. These qualities will serve our young footballers well, both on as well as off the pitch.

• We also invest in our youth through the UTR! Overseas Football Scholarship. Since 2023, we have sent 25 promising talents, 9 boys and 16 girls, to train and study in top-tier environments in the United States and in Spain.

  • Our scholars are already making an impact. Nine girls have gone on to represent the senior national women’s team. Six of them were part of the squad that competed fiercely in the recent AFF Women’s Cup.

  • Our boys have also impressed. Aidan Irfan and Gavriel Lai, who are here today, played key roles in our Singapore Under-17 campaign.

  • They recently came close to pulling off an upset against a strong Australian side. Both credit their time in Spain, going against top youth footballers, for an improved game. This shows all of us that structured overseas exposure can take our young player’s development to the next level.

• Today, we proudly award this scholarship to our fourth cohort: Aria, Naim, and Matteo.

• Congratulations to all of you.

Whole-of-Society to Support Athletes

• I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the continued effort to strengthen Singapore football. Success on the pitch is never the result of an individual alone; it requires a whole-of-society effort.

• To all the parents here today: you provide a bedrock of support. Your unwavering and unconditional dedication, from the early morning drop-offs, to supporting your children through the emotional high after a win, as well as the lows after a tough loss, is what makes all these sporting journeys possible.

• On the Government’s end, we are committed to building up the capabilities of the team behind the team.

  • In April this year, we formed the Sport Excellence Singapore, or SpexSG to consolidate our high-performance ecosystem, ensuring that our athletes receive seamless, end-to-end support all throughout their sporting lifecycle.

  • UTR! is a part of SpexSG, and our footballers, just like the rest of Team Singapore, will receive sport science, sport medicine, and Athlete Life Management support.

• We are also investing in the people who help our athletes grow and succeed – our coaches.

  • Through the Coach Overseas Attachment programme, we are upskilling local coaches by immersing them in the high-performance environments of strong international clubs, bringing the global best practices back to Singapore.

  • This year, we are sending eight coaches to Austria and Belgium. This brings the total number of coaches who have benefited from this programme to 13.

  • Among our past recipients are former Singaporean captains Ernie Sulastri and Nazri Nasir. After storied playing careers, they are now giving back in a different capacity, using their overseas experience to raise the level of Singapore football. A good player is a good player, but a good coach can develop many good players.

• Finally, our wider community, including corporate partners, also has a role to play. Whether through sponsorships, employment opportunities, or turning up to cheer our Lions on, everybody has a part to play. The energy in the stands matters. The belief and support of our nation matters. When our athletes know that Singapore is behind them, they can achieve more. Much more.

Conclusion

• Once again, congratulations to all our young athletes. Aria, Naim, and Matteo - you have an incredible journey ahead of you. Train hard, stay disciplined, and never lose your passion for a beautiful game.

• With the collective support of everyone and all, I am confident that the future of Singapore football is bright. Let us all unleash the roar, together.

• Thank you.