A TOTAL of 340 children participated in yesterday’s National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) Grassroots Festival in Partnership with DST at NFABD House’s Artificial Turf.
The festival was held in conjunction with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Grassroots Football Day on May 15.
Divided into two age groups, five to nine years and 10 to 12 years, the festival taught the children the basics of football such as ball control, running with the ball and striking the ball.
Walk-in registration started at 7am, after which the players did a brief warm-up and were divided into groups to work on the different techniques.
The players also played small-sided games, which helped them learn quicker as they got more touches on the ball and had to make more decisions.
The field was divided into 10 stations for each age-group, with the players moving from one station to the next after a few minutes to complete all the activities.
Projek Ikan Pusu sent 70 children to the half-day event, Dash Academy sent 40, and the rest were comprised of students from 10 invitational schools in the Brunei-Muara district.
NFABD distributed free jerseys sponsored by DST for the participants.
Players challenge for the ball
Boys await their turn
Children having a good time during a match
An annual event now in its fourth year, NFABD first organised the festival in 2014 and 999 children took part in last year’s festival which was held in all four districts.
This year’s event was held at NFABD House as NFABD alternates organising it in Brunei Muara and all four districts.
Brunei Darussalam – through NFABD – won the AFC President’s Recognition Award For Grassroots Football (Aspiring Category) for the second time running last year for the efforts in developing grassroots football in Brunei.
The AFC Grassroots Day participation has doubled since its inception in 2013, with a record-breaking 37 Member Associations participating last year.
Grassroots football forms the basis for success at all levels, and NFABD aims to enhance the football landscape to build a better and brighter future for tomorrow’s generation. As NFABD strives to strengthen the foundations for football to thrive, strong grassroots is a key success factor for the youth and adult levels to succeed.
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