With the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup now underway and the 2023 Women’s World Cup looming large, the challenges of tournament football are being thrown into sharp focus. For elite players, there are a number of opportunities for them to experience the uniqueness of such intense competition, but for grassroots players it is rare and unusual for them to be a part of such events.
The Singa Cup in Singapore is one such competition that provides youth players in Australia with an insight into what it takes to play a high number of games in a short space of time, whilst playing in conditions that are unlike anything found in most parts of Australia.
Since 2011 the Singa Cup has been recognised as one of Asia’s largest youth team tournaments. Teams from Australia, India, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand took part in this year’s edition, which was held over a two-week period in early November.
This was the first time that the competition had been played in two years, with 61 teams playing in U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, Girls U14 and Girls U16 competitions.
The format is typically two groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group advancing to a knock-out semi-final. The winners advance to the final and the losers play in a 3rd/4th place playoff. There are also playoff games for teams finishing outside the top two places, resulting in each team playing a minimum of four games and a maximum of five.
Games are modified to take into account the impacts of Singapore’s tropical heat. The halves are 30 minutes long, but the scheduling means that teams are playing two games in a day with only an hour of recovery between each game (apart from the semi-final and final). This puts a huge stress on young players and even though the tournament is only three days long for each age group, fatigue and injury are real issues for the coaches to manage, so the trip is also a learning experience for them. The artificial pitches throw up challenges for players in terms of managing cuts and grazes to make sure they don’t get infected.
For many of the players, this trip is their first experience of football in a tournament environment, whilst for the vast majority it’s the first time they play outside of their own country, against international opponents who play a style of football they don’t usually encounter at home.
For the Australian players, there’s also the impact of playing in the tropics. The ever-present threat of dehydration and heat exhaustion means that the teams who go the furthest in the tournament are not just those who play good football but also those who best manage the conditions.
Another aspect of the tournament is adjusting to living in hotel accommodation. Players have to learn to share rooms and get used to periods of inactivity when in recovery mode, while coaches learn how to ensure their players eat the right food so that they can play at a high level.
In this year’s tournament, the Girls competitions were boosted by a large number of Australian teams. The U14 division featured Northern NSW, Football West and Fremantle City, and the U16 division included Carramar Shamrock Rovers, Football West and Perth RedStar.
Northern NSW were Champions of the U14 division after defeating Makati FC (Philippines) 1-0 in the final, whilst Football West beat Fremantle City 3-1 to earn third place.
In the U16 division, the title went to Lion City Sailors of Singapore, who beat Perth RedStar (Black team) 3-0 in a final that needed a break for lightning activity and torrential rain. The third place went to Football West after they defeated Perth RedStar (Red team) 2-0 in the playoff.
