KUALA LUMPUR: Regardless of lineage, the role of parents for young players is hugely important as it may take a village to raise and coach a young aspiring footballer.
Generally parents, or specifically fathers, want to be the cornerstone of their children’s interest in sports and naturally seek the best for their children at whatever age or sport they decide to venture into and Ng Chee Kean is no exception to that rule as he spares quality time to train his two sons, Ng Ho Wie, 9, and Ng Ho Race, 8, to become prospective footballers for the future.
Chee Kean, 45, said although he had no proficiency in the sport, he had exposed his two sons to football as early as when both were five and four, whilst the whole country was reeling under the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as an alternative activity to spend time since there were no alternative activities during that Movement Control Order period.
“It is normal for parents to engage with their children in activities at a young age and football was my choice. I am not a footballer myself but managed to ask around for advise, including from a number of junior football academies on how to train my two kids,” he told Bernama when contacted for comments in conjunction with Father’s Day, today.
Chee Kean from Puchong said he spent more than RM1,000 a month to train Ho Race and Ho Wie and later sent them to Sekolah Bola Sepak Selangor FC to hone their skills further.
“Despite attending school, both my sons spend about an hour every day with me after coming back from school to play the game,” he said.
He added that his sincere hope was to see his two sons excel in the sport of football and emerge as an inspiration for others and at the same time represent Selangor which is the state they were born.
“They are still young but my hope is to see both of them become quality players who can go on to represent Selangor or even the country, one day,” he said.
