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Cerebral Palsy football team gets own home ground at Queenstown

SINGAPORE — After earning the admiration of Singaporeans with their gutsy displays at last year’s ASEAN Para Games (APG), Singapore’s national Cerebral Palsy (CP) football team has now earned a big boost from Sport Singapore (SportSG).

The CP Football team were joined by MP Melvin Yong at their weekly training session at the Queenstown Stadium this past Saturday. Photo credit: Mohamed Zainudeen Facebook Page

The CP Football team were joined by MP Melvin Yong at their weekly training session at the Queenstown Stadium this past Saturday. Photo credit: Mohamed Zainudeen Facebook Page

SINGAPORE — After earning the admiration of Singaporeans with their gutsy displays at last year’s ASEAN Para Games (APG), Singapore’s national Cerebral Palsy (CP) football team has now earned a big boost from Sport Singapore (SportSG).

For the first time, the CP football team will have their own home ground, after SportSG allocated Queenstown Stadium for the team’s free use indefinitely.

The team, who won captured the hearts of the nation by wining the bronze medal at last year’s APG, have been training and playing matches at the 3,800-seater venue since last month.

SportSG CEO Lim Teck Yin believes that, with a home ground in place, the CP football team will be able to reach out to more para athletes.

“We are glad to be able to provide them with a venue to be able to train and reach out to more people to join them,” he told TODAY.

“This will benefit the players when they see the support they are getting from their family, friends and the community.”

Last week, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Sim Ann, announced in Parliament a new Disability Sports Master Plan to encourage those with disabilities to participate in sports. Under the five-year plan, SportSG will launch five centres of expertise, which will have disability sports programmes and gym facilities to cater to those with disabilities.

Queenstown Stadium is one such centre of expertise that is dedicated to those with Cerebral Palsy.

“This is a fantastic gesture from SportSG as we have been looking for a permanent base for a long time,” said CP football coach Mohamed Zainudeen. “I believe the boys will be even more motivated to perform to the best of their abilities knowing that SportSG is fully behind them.”

Currently, the CP football team train every Saturday and play in friendly matches occasionally.

TODAY understands that S.League clubs pay around S$250 to rent a stadium’s pitch for a single training session or a match. Having free use of Queenstown Stadium and its facilities will help the CP football team save at least S$1,000 every month. Most of the team’s expenses are covered by the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC).

Before their move, the CP football have had complimentary use of the artificial pitch at Hong Kah Secondary School, where Zainudeen is the coach of the school’s football team. He said moving to Queenstown Stadium, where the pitch is laid with natural grass, will help their preparations for next year’s APG in Kuala Lumpur.

Agreed CP football captain Khairul Anwar, who said: “I’m really pleased that we have been given a permanent home ground to train and play. Since next year’s year’s APG will be played on natural glass, Queenstown Stadium is the ideal venue for my team.”

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