WaF4H Captain to Lead the Men’s First-Ever Walking Football World Cup 2019 in London
53-year old Hanafe Abdul Ghani is seen slowly sipping his teh tarik from a small plastic bag he bought at a nearby coffeeshop. The man is fully decked out in his footballing attire, just waiting for the full training session to commence before he begins his usual warm-up with the team.
If one did not know Hanafe very well, one might have mistaken him for a distant, non-communicative person who prefers to be alone. But for those who know him well, Hanafe can be a very vocal person who airs his opinion at the right time and at the right place.
Hanafe, or Hanz to the very people who know him well, is an avid footballer who joined the Walking Football4Health program since last year. He joined the program through Eunos CC, the institution that supports in conjunction with International Sports Academy. Together they supported the Walking Football4Health Communities-Crossing-Countries Health Empowerment Movement and research initiative under Edith Cowan University Australia, spearheaded by Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Academic Researcher Dr Dee Dee Mahmood.
http://iamdeedeemahmood.blogspot.sg/2017/10/i-am-dee-dee-mahmood.html
Hanafe is an avid footballer who has played for many different teams ever since he was in Primary School. Besides representing educational institutions that he attended in, he was good enough to represent FAS Under 14s to 16s and was given a chance to represent Redhill Rangers in the early days of Singaporean professional soccer scene. However, he decided to stay in Division 2 to play for his team and perhaps gaining more playing time as a result.
His resume of clubs and teams that he played for is definitely impressive, along with the chance to represent his constituency in the Inter-Con tournaments. It was his connection with Eunos CC then that enabled Hanafe to hear about Dee Dee Mahmood’s program and duly signed up for it last year.
The experiences have been pleasant thus far. Besides being the unofficial coach that players seem to seek advise from, Hanafe is also the type of player whom others will listen if he has an opinion. The reason is because he does not speak often, but when he does, his opinion matters.
Hanafe playing against the Malaysian Legends
As part of the World Cup WaF4H men’s team preparations, WaF4H travelled to Malaysia to take part in the AFC Grassroots Football Day and played against the Malaysian Legends. The match ended 0-0 and Hanafe was seen barking orders and dictating play, ensuring that his other team mates were aware of the positional threats posed by their Causeway counterparts.
Playing in the upcoming Walking Football World Cup will definitely pose a huge challenge to WaF4H but having seen how Hanafe was passionate in working closely with his fellow peers, the mens’ team are in good hands.
Hanafe commented, “I am very proud and happy to represent WaF4H (Singapore) since this is the very first official Walking Football World Cup.
Our target is to reach the quarter-finals, but we have to focus on one game at a time.
Right now, even with the weekly training sessions, our preparations is not enough. Hopefully we can still continue training throughout May so that we are well prepared,” added the evergreen footballer whose favorite position is in left-midfield.
Left-midfield may be his favorite position but it seems Hanafe will have to anchor the WaF4H backline in order for them to have a chance to do well in the Walking Football World Cup tournament. Sacrifice is a word that the captain knows well, and his commitment to having extra trainings even during the fasting month is testament to his desire to perform well in the biggest Walking Football World Cup tournament ever.
No wonder Hanafe is so committed to the program. He gave the program much credit to his ability to regain back his running ability, something he thought he could not have been doing after his knee injury.
But now he just needs to concentrate on how fast he can walk, in order to lead his team against some of the toughest Walking Football opponents that will play in England come June 2, 2019. That, and also how to find the nearest coffee shop for him to get his teh tarik fix to break fast.
Written By: Shahrom Asmani
(ex-football reporter for several magazines and newspapers).
This 39-year old Football Crazy Person has been in love with football ever since he attended Singapore National Team’s matches at Kallang Stadium in the roaring 80’s. Has been a goalkeeper for a good part of the decade for a variety of teams but joined WaF4H last year because of the team’s mission and values.
WaF4H (Walking Football4Health) does not only allow participants to play football, holistically, the team concentrates on various other aspects as well such as food, nutrition and personal well-being. Hopefully WaF4H can lengthen this writer’s career, be it in the football field or in the part-time writing arena as well.
53-year old Hanafe Abdul Ghani is seen slowly sipping his teh tarik from a small plastic bag he bought at a nearby coffeeshop. The man is fully decked out in his footballing attire, just waiting for the full training session to commence before he begins his usual warm-up with the team.
If one did not know Hanafe very well, one might have mistaken him for a distant, non-communicative person who prefers to be alone. But for those who know him well, Hanafe can be a very vocal person who airs his opinion at the right time and at the right place.
Hanafe, or Hanz to the very people who know him well, is an avid footballer who joined the Walking Football4Health program since last year. He joined the program through Eunos CC, the institution that supports in conjunction with International Sports Academy. Together they supported the Walking Football4Health Communities-Crossing-Countries Health Empowerment Movement and research initiative under Edith Cowan University Australia, spearheaded by Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Academic Researcher Dr Dee Dee Mahmood.
http://iamdeedeemahmood.blogspot.sg/2017/10/i-am-dee-dee-mahmood.html
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| Hanafe presenting a Momento to Deputy President of FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Mahadi, with Dr Dee Dee Mahmood holding the FAM Plaque in the Invitational Exhibition Match on 4 May 2019 in Malaysia |
Hanafe is an avid footballer who has played for many different teams ever since he was in Primary School. Besides representing educational institutions that he attended in, he was good enough to represent FAS Under 14s to 16s and was given a chance to represent Redhill Rangers in the early days of Singaporean professional soccer scene. However, he decided to stay in Division 2 to play for his team and perhaps gaining more playing time as a result.
His resume of clubs and teams that he played for is definitely impressive, along with the chance to represent his constituency in the Inter-Con tournaments. It was his connection with Eunos CC then that enabled Hanafe to hear about Dee Dee Mahmood’s program and duly signed up for it last year.
The experiences have been pleasant thus far. Besides being the unofficial coach that players seem to seek advise from, Hanafe is also the type of player whom others will listen if he has an opinion. The reason is because he does not speak often, but when he does, his opinion matters.
Hanafe playing against the Malaysian Legends
As part of the World Cup WaF4H men’s team preparations, WaF4H travelled to Malaysia to take part in the AFC Grassroots Football Day and played against the Malaysian Legends. The match ended 0-0 and Hanafe was seen barking orders and dictating play, ensuring that his other team mates were aware of the positional threats posed by their Causeway counterparts.
Playing in the upcoming Walking Football World Cup will definitely pose a huge challenge to WaF4H but having seen how Hanafe was passionate in working closely with his fellow peers, the mens’ team are in good hands.
Hanafe commented, “I am very proud and happy to represent WaF4H (Singapore) since this is the very first official Walking Football World Cup.
Our target is to reach the quarter-finals, but we have to focus on one game at a time.
Right now, even with the weekly training sessions, our preparations is not enough. Hopefully we can still continue training throughout May so that we are well prepared,” added the evergreen footballer whose favorite position is in left-midfield.
Left-midfield may be his favorite position but it seems Hanafe will have to anchor the WaF4H backline in order for them to have a chance to do well in the Walking Football World Cup tournament. Sacrifice is a word that the captain knows well, and his commitment to having extra trainings even during the fasting month is testament to his desire to perform well in the biggest Walking Football World Cup tournament ever.
No wonder Hanafe is so committed to the program. He gave the program much credit to his ability to regain back his running ability, something he thought he could not have been doing after his knee injury.
But now he just needs to concentrate on how fast he can walk, in order to lead his team against some of the toughest Walking Football opponents that will play in England come June 2, 2019. That, and also how to find the nearest coffee shop for him to get his teh tarik fix to break fast.
(ex-football reporter for several magazines and newspapers).
This 39-year old Football Crazy Person has been in love with football ever since he attended Singapore National Team’s matches at Kallang Stadium in the roaring 80’s. Has been a goalkeeper for a good part of the decade for a variety of teams but joined WaF4H last year because of the team’s mission and values.
WaF4H (Walking Football4Health) does not only allow participants to play football, holistically, the team concentrates on various other aspects as well such as food, nutrition and personal well-being. Hopefully WaF4H can lengthen this writer’s career, be it in the football field or in the part-time writing arena as well.
About Dr Dee and Walking Football4Health:
https://iamdeedeemahmood.blogspot.com/2017/10/i-am-dee-dee-mahmood.html
https://iamdeedeemahmood.blogspot.com/2017/10/i-am-dee-dee-mahmood.html
Walking Football4Health 2019 in Review