‘A long time coming’: Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation forms first women’s national team

• Singapore now has its first women national sepak takraw team
• This was an initiative of the Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation's new leadership
• The federation made the move after noting the potential in female players here
• Trials last December saw more than 50 sign-ups but only nine players were selected
• The players are aged between 15 and 23

 

SINGAPORE — At the age of 11, Nur Ezzaty Putri Rohaizat would spend hours after school watching her neighbours play sepak takraw at their public housing estate in Telok Blangah before going home to practise kicking techniques she learned from YouTube videos.

Now, the 15-year-old Queenstown Secondary School student is Singapore’s youngest player in its first women national sepak takraw team, which is set to compete in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2023.

Sepak takraw, or kick volleyball, allows players to use only their feet, knee and head to touch a rattan ball. Each team consists of three players: A server, feeder and striker.

The team’s head coach Padzli Othman, 55, told TODAY that the formation of the female team has been “a long time coming”.

“For years, I have seen women play on the court in housing estates but they never got the chance to play in a league. This is a good opportunity for them,” the former national sepak takraw player said.

Mr Mohd Nasri Haron, president of the Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation (Perses), said that the formation of the national women's sepak takraw team is an initiative of the federation’s new leadership, which had noted the potential of female players here.

He added that Perses hopes to make sepak takraw a more inclusive sport.

While plans to form the team were put in place two years ago, the federation could start trials only after the Government eased some of the Covid-19 restrictions last year.

Trials for the team held in December saw more than 50 sign-ups but just nine players were selected. The players are aged between 15 and 23.

Mr Nasri said that Perses would be holding a match on Sunday (March 27) to look out for more talents to beef up the women’s national team.

The team plans to make its debut at the King's Cup Sepak Takraw Championships in Bangkok in September this year before competing in the regu category in the SEA Games in two years. The regu category is played by three players on each team.

At the 2019 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Thailand nabbed the gold for the women’s regu, Vietnam the silver and the Philippines and Malaysia shared the bronze medal.

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NOT A MALE-DOMINATED SPORT

Ezzaty, who plays the position of striker, whose goal is to execute volleys into the opponent's court, said she was shocked that she made the cut, especially when she had never received any formal sepak takraw training.

But as the tallest player in the team — at 1.68m — Ezzaty said that her height allows her to jump high and do flips to spike the ball into the opponent’s court.

She added half-jokingly: “It’s also the biggest challenge for me because I’m very scared of heights.”

Like Ezzaty, Nurul Ilyana Mohd Sokih did not expect to make it into the national team.

The 18-year-old fitness training student at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) recalled feeling intimidated when playing sepak takraw with her male friends at the court near her housing estate in Marsiling in the last three years.

Ilyana, who plays the server position — also called the tekong — said: “I get teased a lot when I play with my friends at my housing estate. I felt like, sometimes, they look down on me because they think that only men can play this sport.”

But she is determined to prove them wrong, even practising five times a week to master the serving technique called the “horse kick”, where a player kicks the ball over her shoulder or head.

“As a female player, one of the advantages as a tekong is that we can execute the horse kick because we are a bit more flexible,” she said.

Nur Haziqah Rosli, 17, who plays the position of both the server and the feeder, agreed that female players tend to be agile and can execute many acrobatic kicks, spikes, and serves.

The ITE student is pursuing a National ITE Certificate in security technology.

Haziqah, the fourth out of six siblings, has three older brothers who were national sepak takraw players before they resigned and a father who was a former sepak takraw umpire.

She said that in her free time, she watches matches between women’s teams in other countries to pick up different techniques.

Her father, who was initially shocked that she was selected for the women’s national team, lends his support by training her at least once a week.

Having played the sport since she was 10, Haziqah said that her goal is to become a versatile player able to play all three positions.

“My father always told me not to give up. He wants me to go far and represent our national team,” she said. “That’s why I’m training hard right now because that’s my dream, too.”