Home to represent Singapore in Asian youth tournament

The young Protectors will fly the nation's flag in the inaugural competition, which will feature 11 other teams and be played over four months in different parts of the region

Home United will be flying Singapore's colours in the Asia Champions Trophy (ACT) Under-16 tournament over the next four months, which involves 12 teams from 11 nations.

The young Protectors will play their first game on Saturday night at the Jalan Besar Stadium against Group A rivals Timor Leste U16, who are one of five other opponents in the group. The rest are PVF Vietnam, AIFF India U16, Harimau Muda U16 and Frenz United Indonesia.

Group B will feature Thailand's Chonburi FC, Frenz United Malaysia, Lao Toyota FC, Myanmar Academy FC, Cambodia's Phnom Penh Crown FC and China's PFA Guangdong.

Home U16 captain Ashwin Unnithan is raring to go for the ACT, which has a $100,000 cash prize in store for the champions.

'I am proud to represent the club in this tournament,' he said in a press release from the club. 'The team and I are grateful to be accorded such a great opportunity. We are focused on putting our best foot forward and will give our very best in this tournament.'

Home chief executive Azrulnizam Shah believes the side's participation underlines their commitment to develop youth football in Singapore, while also affording the players and staff a different learning experience.

'Participating in the ACT 2014 will give our boys a taste of what to expect as a professional footballer, from the heightened media scrutiny, strenuous traveling schedule and high quality opponents,' he stated.

'It will also accord my coaches and staff experiential learning opportunities through such a undertaking, so as to bring the club to the next level. We will take this opportunity to groom our boys hollistically and we hope that they will showcase Home's brand of football throughout the region.'

Chonburi are defending champions of the tournament, which is a revamped and expanded version of the Asean U15 Champions Trophy held last year. This time, the ACT is organised by Frenz United in conjunction with the Football Association of Malaysia and the Asian Football Confederation.

The ACT will span four months, with the two-legged semi-finals to be played on August 9 and 16. The third/fourth-placing playoffs and the finals, both also two-legged, are scheduled for August 23 and 30.

Home's ACT schedule PVF Vietnam (H), May 24Harimau Muda U16 (A), May 31Timor Leste U16 (A), June 7AIFF India (H), June 14AIFF India (A), June 21Harimau Muda U16 (H), June 28PVF Vietnam (A), July 5Frenz Indonesia (A), July 12Frenz Indonesia (H), July 19