This World Cup season, McDonald’s initiated a joint community outreach with the F17 Football Academy, a long-standing local coaching organisation committed to bringing out the best in every child football player.
Through a total of four football clinics held for over 50 underprivileged children, the sessions aimed to inspire children to fall in love with the beautiful game by emulating the experience and format of professional football training, ending off with a ‘live’ World Cup screening at McDonald’s.
The children are beneficiaries of organisations established to assist the less privileged in their communities, namely SINDA (the Singapore Indian Development Association), PPIS (Singapore Muslim Women’s Association) and New Hope.
Participants taking part in fun football drills designed by F17’s trainers
Ran by professional coaches Fadhil Salim, Jahsh Ruzzman and Bernard Tan, the football clinics provided an opportunity for children to express themselves on the pitch. They learnt the fundamentals of the game with curated drills as well as picking up the importance of teamwork with mini 5v5 games, aiding in their overall development in football.
Zulfahmi Arifin (centre) interacting with the participants at Maplewood Park
Furthermore, professional footballers Zamani Zamari and Zulfahmi Arifin delighted the children with surprise guest appearances, showcasing their skills and sharing their experiences as players on the big stage.
Sports can create unforgettable experiences for children. The World Cup season is the perfect time to give children from varied communities a first-hand experience of football, as well as soak up the excitement of watching a ‘live’ football screening in our restaurants over a meal. It’s been a joy collaborating with the F17 Football Academy to bring the universal language of sport to the children.”
– Linda Ming, Director, Brand Communications & Customer Care, McDonald’s® Singapore
Children enjoying their McDonald’s meals as they watched a World Cup screening in the restaurant
” are excited to be part of this campaign with McDonald’s to bring the World Cup spirit to the players and families. This is definitely an experience that we look forward to in sharing the beautiful game that is football,” said Fadhil Salim, Academy Director, F17.
At the end of each clinic, the World Cup excitement continued with a special treat at McDonald’s – where they enjoyed McDonald’s meals and watched the ‘live’ screening of a World Cup match, in addition to being regaled by the freestyle skills of one-time Singapore champion Daryl Low.
Images: McDonald’s Singapore and F17
