Nur Ain Salleh secures football scholarship to Spain
Madrid CFF’s youth team is where Spain midfielder and European Golden Girl 2024 Vicky Lopez kick-started her career, and it is also where Singapore’s Nur Ain Salleh hopes to launch her journey to become a professional footballer.
After short training stints in Spain with the junior girls team of Atletico Madrid in 2022 and 2023, the 14-year-old right winger has been awarded the Unleash the Roar (UTR) overseas football scholarship and she will spend the next four years training and playing with Madrid CFF’s youth side.
The club’s senior team is currently 10th in the 16-team Liga F, Spain’s top-tier women’s professional league.
Ain told The Straits Times that her earlier stints made her realise the high technical and physical standards she needed to reach to make it as a pro.
She said: “It was way tougher (there). Technically they were quick and physical. It was a few levels up from what I have become used to here. It motivated me to really do my best in Singapore and try to earn a chance to go back to Spain for longer stints because I want to step up my game and go far in this sport.”
While Ain was first told of the possibility of the scholarship and move in August 2024, she had to endure months of waiting for visa approval before receiving the green light last December.
Now, she is chomping at the bit to start her Spanish sojourn.
Ain is the 18th student-athlete – and 10th female – to attain the UTR Scholarship which was launched in 2023. She joins the 2024 cohort of Nadila Nur Danisha and Charlotte Chong, who have already started their stints with Madrid CFF.
The scholarship covers key expenses including the student-athlete’s football programme, tuition, accommodation and insurance. Ain will continue her academic studies at the King’s College School Soto de Vinuelas, an international school in Madrid.
The move to Spain comes on the back of a memorable 2024 for the teenage winger.
In July, ST reported on Ain’s promotion to the Lion City Sailors’ senior side – they compete in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) – after impressive displays for their Under-13 Elite Boys’ team.
Ain went on to score five goals as the Sailors were crowned champions. She also stood out during the Sailors’ inaugural Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League campaign, where she started against India’s Odisha FC and Jordan’s Etihad Club, providing an assist against the former in a 4-1 defeat.
The Sailors had initially planned to nominate Ain for an overseas stint in late-2025, but the club and the UTR Overseas Football Scholarship committee decided to accelerate the move, after recognising that playing abroad sooner would be beneficial for her growth.
Sailors Academy general manager Tan Li Yu said: “We’ve been looking for opportunities to send Ain overseas and we felt this is the right time and the right move for her. She has shown consistently over the years that she is one of the best in her age group, despite playing against boys. She is an exciting talent that Singapore football should cherish and properly nurture.
“We feel that Spain is the right environment for her to develop her game and we’re excited at what comes of this for her.”
Sport Singapore’s chief of sport development group Marcus Tan, who oversees the UTR project, said that UTR and Sailors were delighted to be able to help Ain in her pursuit of becoming a professional player. He added: “At just 14, she has proven that she is a top prospect, having set the WPL alight with some assured performances.”
As she prepares to leave on Jan 7, Ain is clear on what she hopes to achieve in Spain, the home of the reigning Women’s World Cup champions.
She said: “It has always been a goal of mine to play professionally overseas and I want to be playing in the Liga F one day. For sure, it won’t be easy, I will need to adapt to the physicality and the technicality of the game there, but I want to get out of my comfort zone and make my family proud.”
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