A total of 230 young Bandung footballers took part in Neo Gen Academy’s trials to compete for 15-20 places at the international Singa Cup tournament in Singapore.

The article opens with three summary points:

• 230 young Bandung footballers took part in the Neo Gen Academy selection to compete for 15-20 places at the international Singa Cup tournament in Singapore.
• Dedi Kusnandar said international events are important for young players to measure their ability, broaden their horizons and focus on the development process, not just chase victories.
• Neo Gen Academy stresses continuing development, with a character curriculum, scholarship opportunities and overseas training partnerships, to form a generation of footballers with a progressive mentality.

Bandung, IDN Times – A total of 230 young footballers in Bandung took part in a selection process to compete for the chance to play in the international Singa Cup tournament in Singapore.

Neo Gen Football Academy founder Rizky Bagja said that of the hundreds of participants, only about 15 to 20 players in the 10-year-old age group will be sent to Singapore. Players in the 15-year-old group are being prepared for a tournament in Bali this coming September.

The selection is split into several waves. The first stage involved about 70 players, while a follow-up selection is scheduled for the weekend to find the best talents.

In Indonesia there may be a few representatives, and Persib’s academy usually sends representatives there regularly. We are joining this competition to find and increase the experience of young footballers from Bandung.

Rizky, Friday (3/7/2026)

1. The best players will appear at Singa Cup

Players who pass the selection will represent the academy at Singa Cup in Singapore. The tournament is an annual competition involving age-group teams from various countries in the ASEAN region. He explained that the competition is joined not only by football schools under official associations but also by academies and privately formed teams that meet the organisers’ requirements. Besides sending a team to Singapore, Neo Gen Academy is also preparing the 15-year-old group for a tournament in Bali scheduled for September 2026.

2. Early development matters for learning about cultures abroad

Former national team player Dedi Kusnandar said the chance to play in an international tournament is important provision for young players’ development. In his view, football development is a long-term process, so match experience has to be made the most of.

It’s certainly important because we can see how far our ability, skills and experience go when playing there. Winning is not the main goal at this age because their football journey is still long.

Dedi

He said international competition is a chance for players to measure their ability and learn their strengths and weaknesses that still need to be fixed. According to Dedi, facing opponents from other countries will also open young players’ eyes to the quality of play outside Indonesia.

In Bandung they may see play like this, but when they go abroad they will see different quality, maybe even better. So don’t make being champions the main goal, but enjoy the process, because that is the most important thing.

Dedi

3. Football academies must put the development process first

Neo Gen Football Academy itself was founded by several former professional Indonesian footballers who want to contribute to grassroots development. The academy will also involve former national players and coaches as part of its coaching team. The academy’s main focus is not chasing titles in a short time but building a continuing development process so that players develop according to their age stage. The plan is for training to be centred at the Sabuga ITB area, chosen because it is judged to have adequate facilities to support better development of young players.

Neo Gen Academy is a football academy in Bandung that emerged with a mission of change. The change relates to the curriculum and character education that are currently the academy’s concern in developing children’s football, oriented to children’s progress and development, with being champions a bonus of the stages passed. Neo Gen offers a pathway to high-achieving students with scholarship classes under a promotion and relegation system. They will get a chance to taste training or trials abroad because Neo Gen has cooperated with several teams, including in Japan, Portugal and the Netherlands, to give the children experience with the goal of dreaming of playing not only in the local industry but daring to try new things with the mindset of playing in competitions abroad.

Source: IDN Times

Article Link: https://jabar.idntimes.com/sport/soccer/ratusan-pesepak-bola-cilik-bandung-berebut-tempat-turnamen-singapura-00-9y7yl-m9k7cc