It was a Saturday night – a time when most people might be out with friends. But Miruna Ranjan was in a brightly lit stadium in Jurong holding bunches of bananas – which she had just emptied a supermarket of, much to the astonishment of the cashier.
This was 2013. Miruna, then 28, was volunteering at a newly launched football programme by SportCares, a government-led sport-for-good initiative. Called Saturday Night Lights, this was where vulnerable youth, such as those from low-income families or at-risk backgrounds, came together to hone their football skills.
Around 60 youth participated, and some came with empty stomachs. Miruna’s job was to ensure that they ate and drank before practice so that they would not cramp up or faint while playing.
She did this every Saturday night for a year.
Today, Miruna is the assistant director and team lead at SportCares. However, she never stopped quietly supporting kids on the sidelines – be it at football, tennis or running – just like a sports mum.
“My family jokes that I had kids before I had kids,” laughed the 40-year-old, who has two daughters aged 11 and six.
THE ACCIDENTAL SPORTS MUM
Why would anyone be a sports mum to kids not her own?
“People called me crazy. Why sacrifice your Saturday nights?” she admitted. “But it was nice to be there.
“Many of these kids are from families where they had to look after others – a parent, younger siblings. They didn’t get to do many of the things they wanted to. But here, for three to four hours every week, they got to be a kid, play, do what they love,” Miruna told CNA Women.