Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation says MilkLife Strikers’ appearance at Singa Cup 2026 is a benchmark for its grassroots girls’ football programme, after a 6-1 opening win over Lion City Sailors.

MilkLife Strikers’ participation in Singa Cup 2026 is part of efforts to develop women’s football from an early age. This international youth age group tournament is also an opportunity to measure coaching results as well as increase the competitive experience of Indonesian players.

MilkLife Strikers is the selected team from the MilkLife Soccer Challenge All-Stars 2025/2026 sent by Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation and MilkLife to compete in the Girls U12 category. They face teams from various countries to hone their skills and gain experience at a more competitive level of competition.

Representative of Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation and Program Director of the MilkLife Soccer Challenge, Teddy Tjahjono, said that this participation was designed to broaden the players’ experience as well as evaluate ongoing coaching developments.

This is part of our efforts to continue to develop women’s football coaching from the grassroots level. In the context of Singa Cup, we are trying to give the best players from the 2026/2027 MilkLife Soccer Challenge All-Stars the opportunity to compete at a more competitive level. This step will certainly enrich their experience and increase their match experience because the players can directly test the quality of opponents from various countries. Apart from that, we also see this as an opportunity to measure the extent of the output of the coaching that has been carried out through the MilkLife Soccer Challenge. Today, we are happy to players can perform well and win.

Teddy Tjahjono, MilkLife Soccer Challenge Program Director

The results of the first match provided positive capital for MilkLife Strikers. They beat the host representative, Lion City Sailors, with a score of 6-1 at The Rainforest Hub, West Coast, Singapore, Sunday (1 November). The striker from SD Kristen Manahan Surakarta, Ika Wonda, is in the spotlight after scoring a hat-trick.

Locita Waranggani opened the scoring in the third minute, followed by Keyla Azzahra Putri’s goal and Nadia Shakila Azzahra’s penalty. Ika then added two goals in the first half. Lion City Sailors narrowed the deficit through Hana Raiqa, but Ika completed a hat-trick in the final minutes to secure a 6-1 win.

MilkLife Strikers coach, Jacksen F Tiago, assessed that the effectiveness of exploiting opportunities and the mental strength of players were important factors in the match. He also appreciated the team unity that was formed during the training camp, even though the players came from different team backgrounds.

Ika said she was satisfied with the results and said her goals were part of the task given by the coach.

I’m certainly happy that I was able to win today. This is thanks to the hard work of all the players who trained hard throughout the training camp. Our training was quite intensive before we got here. Today I also scored a hat-trick, it was in accordance with Coach Jacksen’s instructions, who told me that the striker’s job is to score goals. I’m happy that I was able to do my job well today.

Ika Wonda, MilkLife Strikers forward

Singa Cup is an youth football tournament that has been taking place in Singapore since 2011. The 2026 edition was attended by 136 teams from 13 countries. Specifically for the Girls U12 category, four teams compete using a *round-robin* league format on 1-3 November. The top two teams will advance to the final, while the other two teams will compete for third place.

After the first win, MilkLife Strikers collected three points and competed at the top of Group A with Selangor FC Academy A. They are scheduled to face Nepal’s representatives, Rato Bangala School, on Monday (2 November).

Through this competition, MilkLife Strikers not only pursues match results, but also gets the opportunity to test skills, increase match experience, and see the development of players in facing opponents from other countries. (I-3)

Source: Media Indonesia

Article Link: https://mediaindonesia.com/sepak-bola/951297/singa-cup-jadi-tolok-ukur-pembinaan-sepak-bola-putri-usia-dini