The signing of 19-year-old former Phuket FC prospect Wuttichai “Bell” Sooksen to Thai Premier League-side Osotspa M-150 FC comes just weeks after playing for the Thai national team's U19 and U21 squads.
In addition, 18-year-old Phonlawat “Ae” Nanta is joining Chonburi FC – a team that was recently promoted to the TPL.
“Helping players go professional was my goal when I moved here,” said Football Director Hannu Tuukanen of YFH, which was founded just after the 2004 tsunami to help orphaned and disadvantaged boys with a focus on athletics, namely football.
“It was a big change for me to give up glory, professionallly training in Europe... I put the goal that I could help 1 to 2 boys play professional in the future and it seems like my dreams have come true but we keep going and hope that my boys will make more success in the future.”
Both players started at YFH when they were 10 and have been trained almos the entire time by Tukkanen. With the Finnish coach's contacts in Europe and abroad, the boys have been able to enjoy training camps in Germany, Finland, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Bell and Ae are part of the first wave of YFH boys that have aged-out of the orphanage and are now settling into their careers, but Tuukkanen believes they will not be the last. Jassada “Arm” Hongsawong, 15, and Nithiwat Boonsing, 16, were called up to the Thailand national U16 squad earlier this year and participated in a three-week camp at German Bundesliga club Schalke 04's youth academy in October.
“We have the next generation of boys who are U13 now, and of course have Jassada and Nithiwat who are 15 and 16. They have a good chance in the future to play professionally as well,” Tuukkanen said.
YFH's U13 squad managed to make the finals of the British International School Phuket's (BISP) International Soccer Sevens competition in their age group earlier this month, though lost in the final.
In addition, YFH reached the finals in the Singha Cup in Singapore, a prestigious annual competition in which U18 squads around the world participate. Despite losing the final to the Onana Elite Football School from Jakarta in a tough final on penalties (a team they defeated in the group stage), YFH playmaker Nicholas Murphy was named the tournament's “Most Valuable Player”.
“This year has been very good, we did a lot of work with all of our boys, especially U13,” Tuukanen said. “Let's see what happened for all of them.”
Earlier this year, YFH completed construction on a new building to admit girls in the home for the first time, ages 5 to 12.
“You see the boys who have been there for a long time helping these little girls. It's like they treat them like little sisters. It's beautiful to see,” Tuukanen said.