Written By: Shahrom Asmani
(ex-football reporter for a few magazines and newspapers)
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 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.
Finally, a Sport 4 Everyone
Fatimah Bte Kalok always wanted to
lead a healthy lifestyle.
Ever since she was young, she was
seriously looking for a form of group exercise that can achieve all her fitness
objectives as well as giving her the proper motivation to work out every single
week. She finally found what she was looking for, but it wasn’t to her father’s
liking.
Fatimah recalled, “I wanted to be
stronger, hence I joined Silat Gayong and Taekwondo when I was young.
Unfortunately, I had to quit halfway
because my father scolded me,” she quipped laughingly.
Silat and Taekwondo is definitely not
for the faint-hearted. Though Fatimah’s father had valid reasons to be
concerned about her daughter’s well-being, not participating in any form of
rigorous but safe exercise will not be beneficial for anyone in the long run.
Fatimah added, “The pain in my joints
became very serious as I grew older, so I definitely needed to address it.
So that time I asked around what was
a good weekly exercise routine and I was advised to join Walking
Football4Health (WaF4H). I am very happy to attend because I get to be fit and
make many friends.”
Fatimah Bte Kalok Enjoying a
Calisthenics Session at Toa Payoh Stadium
WaF4H was started by Celebrity
Exercise Physiologist and Nutritionist Dee Dee Mahmood.
Working as an Associate Adjunct
Senior Lecturer for Edith Cowan University, Australia, Dee Dee introduced the
movement as part of a research initiative, as well as a motivation for anyone
and everyone to take part in any form of physical activity.
Walking Football is a great activity
for anyone because even though it can be rigorous in nature, participants are
not allowed to do any form of tackling or lay a hand on the other player. Those
with cardiovascular issues will not worry too much because everyone, well, will
be walking rather than running at full speeds.
But as Fatimah remembered, she nearly
never joined the movement in the first place.
She said, “I remembered I was asking
around for the location and the timing of the Walking Football trainings. They
mentioned it was Sunday evenings and it was definitely a good time for me to
participate.
The first few times I actually went
to the wrong location. Initially, after going to the wrong locations various
times, I felt very lazy to try.
Then recently I managed to find the
training location and I never looked back ever since,” she mentioned.
Toa Payoh Stadium is the new training
location and Fatimah is grateful that the new place given to them is a blessing
to her, besides the fact that it is located centrally in Singapore.
Fatimah said, “I am very happy
(location-wise) because of the vast surroundings. When we wear the same colour,
who knows, maybe many others may want to join us.”
Toa Payoh Stadium, 4.45 pm till 7 pm.
Every Sunday.
If you happen to be there, watching a
certain Fatimah Kalok happily enjoying herself walking and playing football
with many other like-minded people on the soccer pitch, do drop by and say hi.
We will definitely welcome you into the WaF4H family.
If you can walk, you can play walking football! Come join us. We train every Sundays!
About Dr Dee and Walking Football4Health:
Walking Football4Health 2019 in Review
https://iamdeedeemahmood.blogspot.com/2017/10/i-am-dee-dee-mahmood.html