Small but mighty: Aria Julie Romano, 14, among latest batch of Unleash The Roar! scholarship recipients

The scholarship programme supports young Singaporean footballers and coaches, boosting the national women's team and enhancing coaching through overseas attachments in Europe.

SINGAPORE - At 1.55m, footballer Aria Julie Romano is often among the shortest on the pitch.

But that has not prevented the Singapore national women's youth team player from standing tall in the sport, after taking inspiration from her idol, former Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson.

Written off as "too small" early in his career, Robertson, now at Tottenham Hotspur after a trophy-laden spell with the Reds, proved that determination and grit could outweigh physical disadvantage.

Embracing the same mindset, Aria used her technique, tenacity and fearless approach to stand out against bigger opponents.

The 14-year-old, who can play in central midfield or as a winger, has been in the national youth set-up since 2024 and also made her senior club debut for champions Lion City Sailors in the Women's Premier League in April.

On July 26, she received the latest feather in the cap as she was named among three recipients of the Unleash the Roar! (UTR) overseas football scholarship, alongside 15-year-old boys, midfielder Matteo del Rosario and forward Ayden Naim Fakhry Fazrul Nawaz, who are with the National Development Centre (NDC) Under-15s.

Aria, a member of the NDC U-16 girls' team, will study and train at the renowned IMG Academy in Florida for four years, while Matteo and Naim will have a one-year spell with King's College in Spain as they continue their football development with Rayo Alcobendas, a youth side in Madrid.

Aria said: "The scholarship motivates me to work even harder and focus even more, as I know how rare an opportunity this is, and I'm forever grateful that I got this chance, and it gets me closer to achieving my dream of becoming a professional football player."

Born to a Scottish father and Singaporean mother, she has come a long way since joining the Turf City academy in 2021 where she played in boys' teams and competitions, forcing her to turn physical adversity into an advantage.

"Sometimes people assume that because we're smaller, we're not as strong, but then I've learnt how to use my body well and compete against bigger players," Aria said.

"(My height) gives me an advantage because I feel a bit faster because I'm closer to the ground. I feel like I can just move faster and beat players more easily."

She recalled how she did not get much of the ball initially after joining the boys' team. "But as we played more together and trained more together, they could see my technical ability and they started to trust me and then started involving me in plays more," she added.

In 2025, the Methodist Girls' School student scored a hat-trick in the National School Games for the Centre-Based Partnership (CBP) W3 team, as they defeated defending champions Meridian Secondary School 7-0 in the C Division girls' final.

In April, Aria scored twice as the captain led CBP W3 to a 2-1 win over Meridian to claim their first B Division girls' title.

Her unique development path of measuring up against boys is similar to the journey of Lionesses forward Danelle Tan, the star of the national women's team who finished third in the recent Asean Football Federation Women's Cup to earn a place in the 2027 Asean Women's Championship.

The 23-player squad for the tournament featured six recipients of the UTR! overseas scholarship, with the total number now at 28 since its inception in 2023.

The latest cohort - which is the fourth - received their scholarships from Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo at the UTR Pathways and Appreciation Ceremony held at the Asian Civilisations Museum on July 26.

Neo, whose promotion to full minister takes effect on July 27, said since the UTR was launched in 2021, "initial results are promising" and the authorities wants to build on the momentum of the Singapore national men's team's historic qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup by developing a steady pipeline of players.

The ceremony also recognised eight coaches who have completed or will be going for coaching attachments to either Belgian Pro League side Oud-Heverlee Leuven or Austrian club SKN St Polten under the 2026 Coach Overseas Attachment programme.

They include former national women's captain Ernie Sulastri, who made over 50 appearances for the Lionesses. She was with St Polten from February to mid-July, where she was attached not only to their youth teams, but also their senior men's and women's teams.

Ernie, who is currently taking her Asian Football Confederation "A" diploma, is already putting into practice what she had learnt abroad.

The 37-year-old, who is head coach of the combined School Football Academy (SFA) girls' U-14 team since 2025, said that her Austrian stint provided her valuable insights into the intensity, organisation and detail required at different levels of the game.

She said she was most impressed by the players' mentality, which can be influenced by a coach's energy during training.

"The attachment reinforced the importance of creating game-realistic training where players are encouraged to think, make decisions and solve problems," Ernie added. "While many of these principles are already part of our coaching at UTR, the experience challenged me to reflect on my own coaching and continue improving."

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