100 young footballers for U-19 trials
The state under-19 football squad selection trials will start on Saturday, complying strictly to the standard operation procedure (SOPs) in place.
KOTA KINABALU: The state under-19 football squad selection trials will start on Saturday, complying strictly to the standard operation procedure (SOPs) in place.
Head coach Roslan Wasli said more than 100 young footballers are expected to be involved in the trials, which he said would be staged in at least five phases over several weekends.
The trials will be held at the Likas Stadium and Sabah Football Association (Safa) training ground in Likas near here.
“Due to the large number of players and also the SOPs that need to be followed, the trials will be held over several weekends.
“It will not be a short trial due to the condition that we are in at the moment.
“I have more than 150 names in the list where many of them were recommended by coaches from all the districts. Although not all of them will be able to take part due to work issues and other commitments, it is still just impossible to organise it in one big session.
“So, we came to a decision to hold it in at least five phases and will continue for several weekends.
“Each phase will run over two days with morning and afternoon sessions,” he said after a meeting with Safa officials yesterday.
Roslan went on to say that he would be assisted by his coaching staff throughout the trials in selecting the best players from each phase.
He also added that the last phase of trials will be for those who were not able to take part in the earlier sessions due to the upcoming SPM or STPM examinations as well as those who have work commitments.
“Hopefully all will run smoothly and that we will able to finalise a squad of 25 players by March,” he said.
On the players from the 2020 squad and who are still eligible to play, Roslan said they too needed to undergo selection.
He said this was important in order to ensure that they are still in the good condition especially with their basics and fitness after a long layoff due to the cancellation of the Youth Cup 2020 and also enforcement of the first Movement Control Order (MCO) in the middle of March last year.
For the record, Roslan will work with assistant coach Sudirman Garamah, goalkeeper coach Asmawi Bair and fitness coach Awang Jasri Awang Matusin for the new season which is expected to kick off in June.
The team manager of the Youth Cup team is Mohd Khairul Nizaem.