Sunny Future For Young Footballer

Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) Signs Its Youngest Singapore Sports School Footballer

At just 17 years old, Sunny Tia Yang Guang has kicked-off his football career after being signed by Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) 2021 season. Sunny is the youngest player from Singapore Sports School to be signed by the reigning champions of the SPL. Another Sports School student-athlete, Ong Yu En (DBIZ Year 1), is also part of the team.

Sunny started playing football at 12 years old with friends in his neighborhood as a hobby when he realised that he had a natural talent and interest in the sport. He started his secondary education at Kranji Secondary School where he was part of the school team and the Under 15 national squad. After realising that he wanted to grow further in the sport, he took a plunge and joined Sports School mid-way during his secondary education when he was in Secondary 3. He felt that the high-quality of coaching, exposure, and competition experience would enable him to develop his football skills and further his passion. In addition, he believed that the school’s athlete-friendly academic pathways and support structures would also facilitate his long-term development. Sunny is taking the through-train pathway to the Diploma in Business programme, which is jointly offered with Republic Polytechnic.

On his achievement, Sunny said, “It is an honour to be selected by Albirex Niigata – a team that has been winning titles consistently, including the 2020 edition of the SPL. As a new and young player in the team, my goal for this season is to learn as much as I can from experienced players. With hard work and discipline, I hope that I will get more opportunities on the field during games.” Though Sunny admits that the pressure is on for him to perform amidst more experienced players, he feels that he has been adapting well over the last month since he joined the team and has received tremendous support and encouragement from Sports School staff.

Sunny hopes to represent the national team in the youth age groups and make it into the senior team one day. He also dreams of playing in overseas clubs in the future.