Aquilacinisi Take Kim
After two seasons of waiting, 19 year-old Farmer Bunnies defender
Reno Kim embarked on the next stage of his journey with ambitious Italian eighth division side a.s aquilacinisi, joining Bruno Camarda's squad on a free as part of his first wave of recruits.
Kim had amassed a grand total of just four substitute appearances with the Buns, which certainly informed his resolve to depart as soon as he could. "Nothing against the coaches here, they've warned me that starts would be very hard to come by." Kim acknowledged. "Of course, it wasn't good longer-term."
His youth scout Ooi Long Ming was just as eager for Kim to get going too. "Him staying on was always just a stop-gap, but going from how he won an offer, the additional experience paid off."
Kim's willingness to tough it out on a retainer was not for everyone, as a number of trainees announced their intention to leave the scene, among them the Birds' Mokhtar Hisham, Chau Hock Nie, Ravi Srikkanth and Ammon Heng, the latter of whom walked right after receiving his academy graduation certificate.
It was definitely an achievement for Heng, who endured rejections by the youth teams of Robbie Football Club, St. Xavier's FC, Sandy Footprints and the Wings themselves, before Tham Beng Li admitted him. "It was uphill all the way for Ammon, but he never quit." Tham said. "Not all good dreams are long."
Hisham, who like Heng only made it on the second try, was philosophical about it. "Those were some good times as a winger, but it's high time to get a real job. I'm awaiting my application to be a police officer."
