Goals for SportCares: A donation campaign by Albirex Niigata FC (S)'s Tadanari Lee

24 APR 2022

Initiated by Albirex Niigata FC (S)’s Tadanari Lee, ‘Goals for SportCares’ is a donation campaign in which Lee will be donating all of his goal bonus pay-outs worth $200 per goal to SportCares. The campaign kicked off on 23 April 2022 and will last till the end of the AIA Singapore Premier League 2022 season on 15 October 2022. The donations will be made to SportCares via its campaign page on GIVE Asia.

Lee meets some of the SNL participants at Clementi Stadium.

The former Southampton player with three goals in the bag this season, kicked off his donation campaign on 23 April 2022 at the ActiveSG Clementi Stadium by getting to know the participants of SportCares’ Saturday Night Lights (SNL).

Lee joined the youth players in their football drills on the pitch and shared some pointers with them while they tried to put on display their goal scoring techniques for him. Lee also joined the Muslim participants for iftar (meal to break one’s fast during Ramadan) and picked up a few pointers himself, this time on the Muslim culture in our multi-racial Singapore.

SNL, one of our flagship programmes, is a football-based development programme that gives vulnerable youths aged 13 to 21 the chance to build values through the sport, opportunities to pick up relevant life skills through non-sport initiatives and courses.

Albirex Niigata FC (S)’s Tadanari Lee shared his thoughts on why he is supporting SportCares and the impression he has of the SportCares’ youth players: “When I came to Singapore in January 2022, I wanted to be part of the community and a way to do this is to give back through what I can do best – sport. So, when I heard about SportCares and how they use football to engage the youth, it really resonated with me. And today, I saw first-hand how the youth players are so dedicated to training and really wanting to better their game. They were training hard despite fasting which I am sure was not easy for them. It does go to show how much they like the sport and value the time spent with their teammates. I am very happy that my goals can contribute towards these youth players’ journey in sport.”

Lee trains with SNL participants at Clementi Stadium.

Shawn Lim, head of SportCares who was at the session shared: “We always welcome positive reinforcement at our programmes and when it comes from a professional player like Lee, it can only spur on our youth to do better on the pitch and improve their skills. Our greatest hope is that the positive influence on the pitch carries on, to bring about the same level of discipline and determination to everything before them in life.”

Lee later joins the Muslim participants at SNL Clementi for their break fast meal.

Muhammad Danial Hikari Bin Abdullah, aged 20, a SNL Participant at Clementi Stadium on the opportunity to meet Lee: “It’s great to see an international player like Lee play in the SPL and even better to see him mingling with us, sharing tips on how to place the ball into the back of the net and even join us for a meal. He was very open to sharing about his professional football experiences and learning about our SNL programme. Joining SNL has really benefitted me because I have seen how football (sport) can help me, not only on the pitch but off the pitch too. It’s not just a simple football programme, it’s a family, we get to volunteer and give back to society and pick up other skills that can help us in life.”

Just as we were about to bring the session to a close, a group of SNL participants added that they are looking forward to catching more Albirex matches live to watch Lee, their recent signing, Ilhan Fandi in action and cheer Lee on to increase his goal tally for this season.

More goals for Lee ultimately mean a more significant donation to SportCares, to do more in the community and continue changing lives through sport.