Subang Jaya, 28th May-In line with their ongoing commitment in instilling an interest in health, fitness and passion for sports among the local youth, PUMA Malaysia organised a football coaching clinic on Saturday, which served as a platform for young footballers to gain better exposure to the game and further develop their football skills.
A total of 70 young footballers from SMK USJ 8, SMK USJ 12, SMK USJ 13, SMK USJ 23, SMK Taman Sri Muda and SMK Puchong Permai attended the coaching clinic which was held at the Mini Stadium in SMK USJ 23, Puchong.
The coaching session also marked the inaugural collaboration with First 11 FC, a football coaching academy based in Subang. A team of eight certified coaches, led by head coach Patrick Loo facilitated the training session that put the young footballers through a specially designed training programme.
The half-day coaching session consisted of five training stations, each designed to test different skill-sets related to the game such as defending, shooting, passing and receiving, dribbling and ball controlling skills. A mini-tournament was also held after the five training sessions were completed.
Head coach of First 11 FC and chief coach of the PUMA football clinic, Patrick Loo said “The involvement of big sports brands like PUMA in nurturing young football players in the country is great for the future of local football.”
“It feels good to see enthusiastic youngsters being given an opportunity to participate in the PUMA football clinic. Hopefully through today’s coaching session, the boys will be able take home some new skills and techniques and become better football players” he added.
The youngsters were also met with a pleasant surprise when local footballer Azidan Sarudin made an appearance and joined in for the training with the youngsters.
Azidan, who is currently recovering from an injury, recently signed with the AirAsia Allstars Football Club which competes in the Football Association Malaysia (FAM) League, said “I am very happy that PUMA has taken an initiative to organize this football clinic for the youth. Back when I was a youngster, there were no football clinic’s like this to help me improve my skills, so these youngsters should seize this opportunity to train hard and become even better” he said.
Azidan also talked about how modern day football has evolved so much that it is no longer seen as a hobby but rather, a profession or a career.
The PUMA Football Clinic also organized a mini-tournament at the end of the training session. In what was a closely-fought final match, SMK Sri Muda emerged winners, winning 2-1 on penalties against SMK USJ 23B. The event ended with the prize-giving ceremony for best players and presentation of certificates to all the participants.
PUMA’s representative, Joo Khoo said that the coaching clinic is part of PUMA’s continuous support to encourage more youngsters to get actively involved in sports.
“PUMA Malaysia’s commitment to grassroots sports goes way back.We understand that there is a need to nurture and foster the growth of these young talents and always encourage them to be actively involved in sports. Hence the coaching clinic today served as the perfect avenue for the aforementioned while also solidifying our commitment in supporting the youth and sports development in the country” he said.
