3 young footballers earn chance to train at Valencia summer camp

SINGAPORE — Three young Singapore footballers earned a chance to train in Europe, as they were selected to become the first recipients of the zujuGP YoungWarrior Scholarship.

Muhammad Aryan Muhamma Shukri, Muhammad Rifque Sufi Ridhwan and Zachary Seah have earned an all-expenses-paid trip to train at the prestigious Valencia CF summer camp next year, when they will train with all the budding talents amid the training facilities of the Spanish LaLiga club owned by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim.

The academy is considered one of the best in Europe, with the CIES Football Observatory’s 2022 report listing 25 of its youth products playing in Europe’s top five leagues. This places the academy sixth-best on the list, and among other top clubs like Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain and Sporting CP.

In fact, Valencia coaches came down to Singapore to select the trio out of those who took part at the ActiveSG Football Cup tournament, where over 90 youngsters took part in three age-group competitions (Under-10, Under-12 and Under-14) amid the school holidays in November and December.

The U-12 and U-14 finals were held at Jurong East Stadium on Saturday (10 December), and the coaches picked the trio for the scholarship program after they put selected youngsters through specialised drills in a football clinic in the morning.

"It is a good opportunity for Valencia to see first-hand, in a context like the ActiveSG Cup, how players are developing in Asia,” says Ramon Mompo, technical manager of Valencia's academy programs.

"In picking the three players, we take into account aspects that an elite player must have with us. They need to be able to set an example for others; are intelligent; be fighters; be technically proficient; and be energetic."

Naturally, the three winners were eager and excited at the opportunity to train in Spain. Said Zachary, who was the top pick in the U-14 category, "Standards of football in Spain are definitely better than in Singapore, and so I'm excited to learn new things while I'm at the summer camp in Valencia."

The YoungWarrior Scholarship is a youth development scholarship program set up by digital football platform zujuGP, which has partnered Singapore's sports governing body Sport Singapore to help support the "Unleash the Roar!" national football project.

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