SINGAPORE – When the ActiveSG Football Academy (AFA) launched in 2016, Irsalina Irwan was among a handful of girls who were playing alongside boys. While that experience shaped her development – the tough-tackling defender is now a national player – Irsalina did wish that she had received the ball more often back then. The 19-year-old was hence heartened to learn that from July, the academy will introduce a girls-only programme at two of its 17 centres – Tampines Secondary School and Ang Mo Kio Secondary
School – in addition to its existing age-group offerings for children aged 3 to 16. The announcement was made at the biannual AFA Football Fiesta on May 24 at Our Tampines Hub, where over 1,000 children participated in an event to mark the academy’s 10th anniversary, with Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo as the guest of honour. Recalling her four years with the AFA, when there were no girls-only teams, Irsalina said playing with the boys made her the player she
is today. The Lion City Sailors defender, who also spent two years at the IMG Academy in Florida, United States, as one of the inaugural batch of Unleash The Roar! scholarship recipients, said: “I became much more aggressive on the field, and I would say I adapted quickly in a way. “A lot of people know me for my aggressive tackling and my tenacity.” But she felt she “did not have the safe space in a way”, adding: “Because a lot of boys will think
girls are not as equal as them, and I didn’t really get the ball as much. “So, maybe in an all-girls programme, they would feel that sense of belonging, that togetherness, you know, someone that will pass the ball to me more.” Irsalina, who is in national coach Mihoko Ishida’s squad for friendlies against hosts Indonesia (June 3) and Cambodia (June 6) in Bandung, was glad to see more support and pathways being created for the next generation of female players. “It’s good to see
that there’re more upcoming opportunities for these young girls,” she said. She added that they will also have role models to look up to in her national teammates such as Danelle Tan, Putri Syaliza and captain Rosnani Azman, who is set to be among the coaches to helm AFA’s women programme. Ten years since the AFA was launched with just 500 players at five centres, the number of participants has risen to 4,000 – including 600 girls – across all age groups. AFA principal Aleksandar
Duric said he had wanted to start a dedicated programme for girls for some time. In 2025, AFA embarked on a pilot programme for just girls at its Tampines centre and also fielded a girls-only team in the Singapore Youth League, which won the Under-12 title for the gender. “Looking at the girls in my programme for the last 10 years, I realised that the girls were so much more disciplined,” said Duric. “They are so much more focused when they play the game. They
really go all out because somehow the girls, mentally I think, they grow up much faster than the boys.” The former Singapore international is hoping to do more to enhance the development of girls’ football here. Duric, 55, said: “My aim now is not just to do the grassroots girls’ programme, I also want to engage girls’ schools, go talk to parents or the principals, see if I can do some programmes.” Some parents have expressed interest in enrolling their girls in the new AFA
programme. Homemaker Massuri Abdul Aziz said her seven-year-old daughter Misha Yap, who is with the AFA centre at Queensway Secondary School, has enjoyed being with the programme since joining the Under-3 age group. “She has learnt a lot, resilience especially,” added Massuri. “And playing with the boys helped toughen her up. But girls playing with girls, at least they understand each other.” Salehin Amin, whose daughter is with AFA’s Ang Mo Kio centre, said he will let her join the all-girls’ programme. He said: “I
feel like when she plays with her own gender and age-group, she would progress better in terms of the ‘success moments’ that she gets every time when she plays.” Registration details will be announced on AFA’s social media pages in June. The programme will be priced at $130 per term for ActiveSG members.
ActiveSG Football Academy, girls-only programme, Tampines Secondary School, Ang Mo Kio Secondary School, AFA Football Fiesta, Irsalina Irwan, Mihoko Ishida, Unleash The Roar! scholarship, Singapore Youth League, Under-12 title