From the sidelines to stardom, footballer Nur Ain Salleh, 14, aims to make family proud

SINGAPORE – Lion City Sailors sensation Nur Ain Salleh, 14, has her sister to thank for giving her a start in football. Aged just five, Ain would accompany Nur Atikah Ardini to Serangoon Stadium for the latter’s national youth team training sessions.

While waiting, she would juggle the ball and play on her own, catching the eye of the national age-group coaches Yeong Sheau Shyan and Angeline Chua, who encouraged her to join the Football Association of Singapore’s girls programme.

Atikah, 21, has since quit the sport to focus on work. But she continues to inspire and motivate her younger sibling.

Ain told The Sunday Times in an interview at the Sailors’ Training Centre at Mattar Road: “Ever since my sister stopped playing football about two years ago, I just wanted to prove that I am better than her.

“I want to show her that I can do better than her and also succeed in my football journey.”

Unlike most of her peers, who find their feet training with girls their age, Ain’s exceptional talent saw her training with and playing against boys since she was six. Lioness Danelle Tan, who is flying the flag with her exploits at German side Borussia Dortmund, followed the same path as a young player.

While the teenager is soft spoken and shy off the pitch, she is anything but meek on the ball.

Clips of Ain – the first female scholar of the Sailors Football Academy – holding her own against boys, both locally and overseas, have been widely shared on the academy’s Instagram page. As a result, many in the local fraternity have tipped her to be a key figure in local women’s football in the future.

Noting that boys often underestimate her abilities, Ain, who studies at Swiss Cottage Secondary School, said: “When I win Man of the Match awards sometimes, I can hear the frustration of opponents. But I enjoy this and I knew from the start that if I play with the boys, I would just get better.”

Sailors Academy coordinator Ashraf Ariffin, who coached Ain when she was with the Under-13 boys’ team said: “From a young age, we could already see her potential and how special she is and how much ahead of the other girls she is. Having her in the boys’ programme has benefited her development.

“What sets her apart is her technical ability on the ball, her speed and acceleration...

“Her aggressive nature with the ball and without it especially in pressing and in transition.

“Her development pathway for her at the LCS Academy is for her to remain in the boys’ programme for as long as she remains competitive.