Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports

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Paya Lebar CSC players pose for a picture. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

Temasek Secondary School, Saturday, May 17, 2014 — The influence of their father on three brothers is apparent at this year’s Community Games.

“We like football and learnt how to play from our late father,” said Jalil B Arsat, 32, oldest of the three brothers who are representing Paya Lebar Community Sports Club (CSC). This year, they joined the Community Games with their brother-in-law, Ismail B Baba, 42, and nephew, Ishak B Ismail, 16.

Jalil and his brothers, Razali B Arsat, 27, and Faizal B Arsat, 24, also spend time together playing sepak takraw, but devote their time mostly to football. Their passion for the sport can be seen from their commitment to playing. “We just play football almost everyday, from Monday to Friday. We are more relaxed at night and play takraw instead,” said Jalil.

The three of them found out about Paya Lebar CSC in 2005 and decided to join the club together. “We knew some of the players in the team from school, and some of them here now are from the youth team. They train under me, so from there I asked some of them to play for me,” said Faizal, who currently coaches the club’s youth team.

Jalil said, “Last year most of the team consisted of older players, but as they were busy with work and stuff, we changed most of them to the younger ones.” On the frequency of their trainings, Jalil added, “We train once before the competition, then come together to play on the day itself. We train separately before the tournament.”

Like the three brothers, Ishak was also influenced by his father’s love for football and started playing at a tender age. “I played football since I was small. From young I see my father play soccer, so I also wanted to play,” recalled Ishak, who is currently in Serangoon Secondary. His father, Ismail, is also the team manager for Paya Lebar CSC this year.

This is Ishak’s first year representing the club and he is one of the youngest players in the team. “I am a little bit scared, because it’s my first time here. It’s my first 11-player football game. Other tournaments I joined are futsal,” said Ishak.

The younger ones in the team meet up everyday for football. Ishak said, “We usually play on Monday to Friday, at Hougang area. I’m very close with the younger players. We seldom do other stuffs. We only play soccer when we see each other.”

Scoring by Period
Paya Lebar CSC vs Tampines East CSC
First half: 1–0
Second half: 4–0 (5–0)
Final score: 5–0

Paya Lebar CSC Roster
Hafiz B Sarrid (#1), Aliff B Suhaimin (#2), Md Fazdil B Hussin (#3), Alim B Ab Rahman (#4), Sim Md Kamil (#5), Syarifuddin B Mohd (#6), Jalil B Arsat (#7), Md Asyraf B Amran (#8), Baby Josy (#9), Adamn Scephian Roslan (#10), Faizal B Arsat (#11), Sharvin s/o Segar (#12), Imran B Md Mohtar (#13), Razali B Arsat (#14), K Puvind Kumar (#15), Ardy Suprianto B Ruslan (#16), Ishak B Ismail (#17), Ismail B Baba (#19), Amirul Hairi B Johari (#20)

Tampines East CSC Roster
Mohd Raizan B Abd Rahman (#1), Khalid B Jandan (#2), Khairul Afiq B Apandi (#3), Syed Suhail Bin Syed Salim (#4), Khairul Nizam Bin Apandi (#6), Mohammed Shafizal Bin Muhd Sharif (#7), Muhammad Haikal Bin Khaled (#8), Ridwan Bin Aris (#9), Mohd Sany B Kazdi (#10), Rosli Bin Omar (#11), Muhd Norizan B Salim (#13), Mohamad Amin Bin Mohamad Ali (#14), Anuar Bin Omar (#15), Khaled B Abu Bakar (#16), Md Jufferi B Moktar (#17), Muhd Rudy Bin Mohd Basri (#18), Tan Han Kit Shawn (#19), Sahril Bin Sapie, Shaiful Bin Saaban, Noorhadi Bin Kamdi

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