News

I was disappointed to read how town councils seem bent on preventing children from playing football at HDB void decks ( Dec 24). Some have said children should play football at school fields or futsal courts. However, it may not be easy for primary school kids to organise a group to travel to the nearest football pitch, which may not be in their neighbourhood or, worse, has to be booked and paid for. If the Brazilian and Argentinian authorities had banned their children from playing football in the streets or neighbourhood spaces, I doubt their children would have developed their skills at a young age to become among the world’s best footballers today. I’m not suggesting that our children will become world-class footballers once they are allowed to play at the void decks. However, I think most people will agree that being able to easily join in a football game at the void deck below one’s flat or in the next block would help develop the children into better footballers and athletes at a younger age, make them fitter, inculcate in them the value of teamwork or, simply, let them make more friends through an enjoyable game of football. So, instead of just preventing children from playing football at void decks, perhaps the town councils can convert selected void decks into futsal courts with higher walls to minimise the noise from the players. In addition, only lighter rubber or plastic balls can be used, instead of actual footballs, which produce loud thuds on hitting the walls.  Another suggestion would be to convert green spaces in the neighbourhood into mini outdoor football pitches. Currently, most of these spaces are either filled with little knolls or are full of trees, which makes a kickabout rather difficult.