SINGAPORE — For the 144 upper primary students attending the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) inaugural Kids’ Camp, it had been a programme that offered more than the finer points of football playing, it even included a trip to the NEWater Visitor Centre in Tanah Merah to widen their world view.

But nothing could prepare them for the thrill of meeting their heroes in real life yesterday, as the Singapore Lions, led by coach Bernd Stange, turned up at Jalan Besar Stadium to take them through their morning training session. Organised as part of the Asian Football Confederation’s Grassroots Year 2013 initiative, the camp brought together players from the FAS Junior Centre of Excellence teams and those participating in the S-League Clubs’ community outreach programmes for children.

For most of the attendees, the chance to rub shoulders with their footballing heroes was an unexpected treat. Wellington Primary School’s K Dashan was thankful to finally meet his favourite Lion Baihakki Khaizan, even if the school captain plays in midfield and not in defence like his hero.

“I want to be as good as Baihakki some day and hopefully play for the LionsXII and the national team,” said Dashan, who captains his school team. “I really look up to him because he looks out for his team-mates and when someone is injured, he is always the first person there to protect them from the opponent.”

The programme to impart lessons of teamwork, cohesiveness and selflessness received the thumbs-up from Stange, who is in the early days of reshaping Singapore football. For the German, the key for future success for Singapore is to motivate, educate and train the younger generation, with the older players as inspiration.

“It is very important to bring the best players of our country to this camp … you see how they are shouting ‘Safuwan, Safuwan, we want Safuwan’, these are role models to them,” Stange noted. “When I asked them who is the best player in the world, they don’t say Messi, they say Safuwan. This is our future. It takes a couple of years but we are on the right direction.” FELICIA QUICK