Interview by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

ong zhi hao

Ong Zhi Hao keeps his eye on the ball during the recent A Division football semi-final against MJC. He has to keep his eye on his studies when he’s off the pitch as well. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

17-year-old Ong Zhi Hao was a member of the Raffles Institution (RI) squad that finished 4th in this year’s A Division Football Championship. He stood out with his playmaking skills and surging runs from midfield. Zhi Hao is also a member of the national U-17 squad.

Red Sports caught up with him after the end of the season to ask about the difficulties of juggling football and studies, as well as his future aspirations.

Red Sports: From what age did you start having an interest in playing football?
Zhi Hao: I started proper soccer training when I was nine.

Red Sports: Who were your biggest influence?
Zhi Hao: My dad was my biggest influence during my pursuit of the sport as he was my motivator and kept me going when times were tough.

Red Sports: From what age did you start to play for the national age-group squad?
Zhi Hao: Before I even got into the national squad, I was enrolled into the Singapore Sports School when I was 12. Thereafter, I got into the national U-15 team when I was 15 years old, following that, the U-16 team, then to the current U-17 team.

Red Sports: Would you take up football as a career?
Zhi Hao: I am not sure if I really want to take up soccer as a career in the future, but for now, I just want to enjoy soccer while studying hard.

Red Sports: How was the national team training like in terms of scheduling and intensity?
Zhi Hao: Training in the national youth team now has a much lower intensity compared to my past two years of training with the team. I guess the reason is because many of the players now are from many different schools, unlike during the time when most of the players were still in Sports School.

The curriculum timing of everybody is very different now as well. When it comes to national training now, maybe only half the team will be there to train while the other half will have other commitments such as the A Division tournament for the college players, and the POL-ITE games for the rest.

However, I must say that, on the other hand, the college’s training for the A Division games possesses much higher intensity and team chemistry [than the national team trainings]. As the players train together daily after school, it forges a stronger sense of understanding between players and this made us play our hearts out even during trainings.

Red Sports: Who are your closest buddies in the team(s)?
Zhi Hao: For the national team, I would say Gregory Noah from St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC), Mohd Naufal from Meridian Junior College (MJC), Syafiq Siraj and Jamilul Hadi from the Sports School, are my best buddies.

For the school team, i would say everyone of them is my best buddy. I guess it is because I spend more time with the players in school than those in the national team.

Red Sports: Did your trainings and studies clash? How did you cope with it?
Zhi Hao: In RI, 24 hours is really not enough to accomplish everything, therefore I did not go for any of the national training during the period of the A Division games.

School training normally starts immediately after school, which is around 4pm to 5pm, and it ends around 8pm to 9pm. Hence by the time i get home and have my dinner, it would probably be around 10pm already.

Then despite being really tired after a long day in school, I will constantly remind myself to stay disciplined and complete my daily revision and school work before heading to bed at around 1am every day.

I would say it is not easy to strike a balance for sports and studies when I am in RI as the school work here is not easy and a lot of time is needed for school work alone.

Red Sports: Any other difficulties you face when considering football as a career?
Zhi Hao: One other difficulty would be that the number of players that are Chinese are very rare.

In the current national [U-17] squad, the only Chinese players are Ryson [Yap from Victoria Junior College] and I, just the two of us only.

Red Sports: How will you judge the level of football in A Division?
Zhi Hao: The level of A division football is very much different from the national team.

In the A Division, although majority of the players are less skilful and less experienced, I see the level of fitness in most of the A division teams to be rather high. I think fitness and physical strength are the two key factors that makes A Division football exciting.

Red Sports: Do you think there is a dearth of A Div players progressing into national age-group squads and taking football as a career?
Zhi Hao: Yes, I do think so. Almost the whole team in the current national U-17 squad is made up of non A-Div players.

I guess this is really because it is extremely hard to juggle both the stressful academic work and the demanding trainings. It make the chances of A Div players getting into the national squad very slim and many college players put their studies before their sports as well.

Red Sports: What will attract promising A Div players to take football as a career?
Zhi Hao: The main reason why many college players are not looking at football as their career is because the level of soccer in Singapore is unlike the western countries, or even Asian countries like Japan.

Playing professional football in Singapore will not be a good enough career as it has a very short lifespan. We can only play our best football during our early 20s and 30s, after which we would have to get a job based on our academic achievements.

Therefore I guess if the level football in Singapore is able to get a name in the international arena, many promising A Division players may then consider taking on football as a career.

Red Sports: What are your future aspirations as a footballer?
Zhi Hao: I do not expect a lot as I do not think I will have a chance to play for the national team or the Young Lions.

I would have to give more time and effort for my studies as I grow older, and achieve more in terms of my academics. By then, I guess I might not even be playing soccer anymore.

I would be taking my A levels next year and I’ve got to do well for it, so I am already prepared to sacrifice my national team involvement when the A Division season ends next year.