For one boy on the morning of 13 June 2026, his father was not there. Volunteers from DADs for Life fell into step beside him and other children whose dads could not be there, cheering them through every drill and kick.

These children and their volunteers were among more than 100 children and parents who laced up at the Lion City Sailors Training Centre for Happy Kicks, Happy Kids, a football clinic jointly organised by McDonald’s Singapore and the Football Association of Singapore, with community partners including DADs for Life, Centre for Fathering, and Families for Life, and in support of the National Family Festival.

Mr Edwin Tong SC, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Patron of Centre for Fathering, was there too, on the pitch with the children. Singapore National football team players Shahdan Sulaiman, Dhaniyah Qasimah, and Farhanah Ruhaizat joined in, running drills and drawing wide eyes from the younger players.

For many of the children, it was their first time on a real football pitch. They walked off wearing a customised jersey, carrying a drawstring bag, and holding the kind of memory that does not come from a Saturday at home.

“These moments of shared play are where bonds are quietly strengthened, and where children learn that their fathers show up, not just at milestones, but on an ordinary Saturday morning,” said Yuen Chee Onn, Chief Advocate, Centre for Fathering.

Your support makes it possible for us to bring families like his to mornings like this.