Singapore Sports School

Coordinates: 1°25′36.21″N 103°47′18.19″E / 1.4267250°N 103.7883861°E / 1.4267250; 103.7883861

Singapore Sports School

Singapore Sports School is a Specialised Independent School under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). It is the only school in Singapore that offers select youths an integrated academic and sports programme in a world-class environment and offers scholarships to the best athletes. It was officially opened on 2 April 2004 by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s second Prime Minister.

The Beginning

The idea of establishing a specialised school for young sportspeople was mooted by the Committee on Sporting Singapore (CoSS) in 2000. On 14 March 2001, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Minister for Community Development and Sports (MCDS), the forerunner of MCCY, announced in Parliament the Government’s approval of a sports school.

A $75 million complex was built on a 7-hectare site in Woodlands, and upon completion, took the address, 1 Champions Way.

More than 1,200 12- and 13-year-olds participated in the sports selection trials in August 2003. Eventually, 141 were selected for places in eight sports academies – Badminton, Bowling, Football, Netball, Sailing, Swimming, Table Tennis and Track and Field. This pioneer batch started its academic year as Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 student-athletes on 5 January 2004, and moved into the boarding school, Olympus Lodge, on 25 January 2004.

Singapore Sports School logo

Mission, Values and Tagline

Mission

Singapore Sports School nurtures "Learned Champions With Character" for the 21st Century through:

• World-Class Youth Sports Development
• Academic Rigour
• Character Excellence
• Organisational Excellence

Values

Singapore Sports School will rise to the challenge to develop staff and student-athletes to live as Champions in the 21st Century instilled with the core values of:

• Respect
• Integrity
• Responsibility
• Excellence
• Resilience

School Tagline

"Learned Champions With Character"

Management

Mr Moo Soon Chong was the founding principal of Singapore Sports School. He was assisted by Mr Chua Choon Seng, Director of Corporate Services and Dr Irwin Seet, Director of Sports, Mr Seah Poh Chua, Director of Academics and School Administration, who was Dean of the Academic Wing then, and a core team.

Mr Moo retired on 14 December 2007 and Mrs Deborah Tan was appointed principal of Singapore Sports School on 15 December 2007.

Mrs Tan was appointed to a senior position at the Ministry of Education on 14 December 2013.

Mr Tan Teck Hock is the new principal of Singapore Sports School. Mr Tan has served in the Education Service since 1992. He was principal of Yishun Town Secondary School from December 1999 to December 2005 and principal of Serangoon Junior College from December 2006 to December 2010. He is credited with raising the quality of education in both schools. Mr Tan was the founding Principal of the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy in 2010.

“Coming to Singapore Sports School as Principal… It is a huge responsibility. I will ensure that the student-athletes who join us will receive the highest standard of education and sport development that they have come to expect of the Sports School,” said Mr Tan.

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth Permanent Secretary Yeoh Chee Yan said Mr Tan was selected to set up PESTA “because of his special qualities as an educator, a leader and a champion for sports.”

Ms Yeoh added that Mr Tan is known as a strong and capable leader with a passion for sports and she is confident he will take the Sports School to new heights.

Facilities

One of the Olympic size swimming pools

Singapore Sports School's wide range of training and residential facilities makes it well-suited for hosting sport competitions and residential centralised training camps.

Our world-class sport facilities include:

• 7-Level Boarding School for the student-athletes to stay (with 3 Bathrooms on every level), which includes 4-bedder rooms and 6-bedder rooms.
• A swimming complex with 2 all-weather Olympic-sized pools (50m x 25m). Each pool can accommodate 10 lanes. One pool is 2m deep, while the other is 1.4m to 1.6m deep. Our spectators stand can seat up to 300 people. Temporary seating structures can be set up to accommodate another 700 people. This facility is used by FINA to hold its World Cup series
• A badminton training centre with 10 courts.
• A table tennis centre that can accommodate up to 32 tables
• A 30-bay indoor shooting range, which was used as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games shooting venue
• A 12-lane bowling centre, equipped with three different lane surfaces, while oiling patterns can be changed to simulate different competitive conditions
• An 8-lane synthetic rubber running track
• A synthetic football field, FIFA-approved to hold international matches up to World Cup Quarter-Finals Level
• 3 netball courts
• A 2-storey Strength and Conditioning Centre. The lower floor is equipped for strength and conditioning and the upper floor is used for cardiovascular workouts. The physical conditioning centre is equipped with a wide range of weight machines, treadmills, elliptical trainers and other fitness equipment. It also features two aerobic studios
• A 700-seat indoor multi-sports auditorium. The air-conditioned auditorium can be used for a wide variety of sports including badminton, basketball, futsal, netball, table tennis and volleyball
• A 248-seat multi-purpose hall next to the indoor shooting range

Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics Games

Singapore Sports School was the venue of the Aquatics (Swimming), Modern Pentathlon and Shooting.

Performance Enhancement Institute

The Performance Enhancement Institute is a department within the Sports Wing of the Singapore Sports School. It provides multi-lateral development programmes, sport-specific profiling and screening, research, sports testing and technology to support coaches in the identification and development of student-athletes.

Support Programmes and Services

The Performance Enhancement Institute supports coaches and enhances sports academy’s programmes through evidence and needs based on:

• Physical Conditioning and Movement
• Screening
• Sport Science Education
• Sport Science Support
• Talent Identification
• Technology

Performance Enhancement Institute has support available in the following areas:

• Performance Analysis
• Sport Physiotherapy and Medicine
• Sport Psychology
• Sport Physiology
• Sport Technology
• SportSmart Skills and Cluster Sports
• Strength and Conditioning
• Talent Identification
• Applied Sport Science Research

Achievements

Achievements are as of 30 July 2015.

Academic Achievements

• More than 90% of graduates who sat for the GCE "O" Level Examinations have been accepted into Junior Colleges, Pre-Universities and Polytechnics
• 26 recipients of university scholarships and awards (President's Scholarship, Public Service Commission's Scholarship, SAF Overseas Scholarship, SAF Merit Scholarship, NTU Nanyang Scholarship, NTU EW Barker Scholarship, NTU Engineering Scholarship, NUS Global Merit Undergraduate Scholarship, California University of Pennsylvania Sports Scholarship, Indeco Sports Scholarship, JTC Scholarship, Singapore Sports Council Scholarship, University of Idaho Sports Scholarship, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sports Scholarship, Wichita State University Honors College, Wichita State University Sports Scholarship and Yale-NUS Dean Scholarship.)

University Scholarships and Awards

Sports Achievements

• 4 Olympians (Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and London 2012 Olympic Games)

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Calvin Kang Li Loong, Athletics
Tao Li, Swimming
London 2012 Olympic Games
Dipna Lim Prasad, Athletics
Mylene Ong Chui Bin, Swimming
Tao Li, Swimming

• 8 World Champions; 8 World Championship Titles

2006 Laser 4.7 World Championships, France, 7 July 2006
Victoria Chan Jing Hua
2006 Optimist Worlds, Uruguay, 9 January 2007
Griselda Khng
2007 World Byte Championship, Thailand, 8 April 2007
Valerie Chia Ying Ying
2009 Byte CII World Championship, Canada, 27 August 2009
Darren Choy Wong Loong
2010 Byte CII World Championship, Finland, 11 April 2010
Darren Choy Wong Loong
2010 420 World Champion, 1 August 2010
Sherman Cheng Feng Yuan
2012 420 World Championships, Austria, 5 August 2012
Cecilia Low Rui Qi
Rachel Lee Qing
16th Pencak Silat World Championships (Match Class J - 90 kg-95 kg), Thailand, 16 January 2015
Sheik Farhan Sheik Alau'ddin

• 65 Asian Games Competitors (7 Gold, 5 Silver, 6 Bronze)

Doha 2006 Asian Games
Sherman Cheng Feng Yuan, Sailing. Men's 420 Gold Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 50m Butterfly Gold Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 100m Butterfly Bronze Medallist
Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games
Sherman Cheng Feng Yuan, Sailing. Men's 420 Gold Medallist
Cecilia Low Rui Qi and Rachel Lee Qing, Sailing. Women's 420 Gold Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 50m Butterfly Gold Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 100m Butterfly Silver Medallist
New Hui Fen, Bowling. Women’s Singles Bronze Medallist
Scott Glen Sydney, Sailing. Men’s Laser Radical Open Bronze Medallist
Incheon 2014 Asian Games
Daphne Tan Shi Jing, Jazreel Tan Shi Hua and New Hui Fen, Bowling. Women's Team of 5 Gold Medallist
Andrew Paul Chan, Sailing. Men's J80 Match Racing Gold Medallist
Jazreel Tan Shi Hua, Bowling. Women's Singles Silver Medallist
Jazreel Tan Shi Hua and New Hui Fen, Bowling. Women's Trios Silver Medallist
Cecilia Low Rui Qi, Sailing. Women's 29er Silver Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 50m Butterfly Silver Medallist
Jazreel Tan Shi Hua, Bowling. Women's All-Events Bronze Medallist
Tao Li, Swimming. Women's 100m Butterfly Bronze Medallist
Isabelle Li Siyun, Table Tennis. Women's Team Bronze Medallist

• 25 Commonwealth Games Competitors (5 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze)

Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games
Zena Sim Kai Xin, Table Tennis. Women's Team Gold Medallist
Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games
Aqilah Sudhir, Shooting. Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Pairs Gold Medallist
Pang Xue Jie, Table Tennis. Men's Team Gold Medallist
Cheng Jian Huan, Shooting. Women’s 10m Air Rifle Pairs Silver Medallist
Aqilah Sudhir, Shooting. Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Bronze Medallist
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
Clarence Chew Zhe Yu, Table Tennis. Men’s Team Gold Medallist
Isabelle Li Siyun, Table Tennis. Women’s Team Gold Medallist
Terry Hee Yong Kai and Tan Wei Han, Badminton. Mixed Team Bronze Medallist

• 1 ISSF World Cup Gold Medallist

Munich, Germany, 2014
Martina Lindsay P Veloso, Shooting. Women’s 10m Air Rifle Gold Medallist

• 222 Southeast Asian Games Competitors in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 (78 Gold, 46 Silver, 44 Bronze Medals; 30 Records); Singapore Sports School's past and present student-athletes contributed to nearly 40% of the total number of gold medals won by Team Singapore.
• 4 Commonwealth Championships Competitors (4 Gold, 5 Silver, 1 Bronze Medals; 2 Records)
• 28 Youth Olympic Games Competitors (2 Silver, 2 Bronze Medals)

Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games
Martina Lindsay P Veloso, Shooting. Women's 10m Air Rifle Silver Medallist

• 4 Olympians (Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and London 2012 Olympic Games)

Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games
Isabelle Li Siyun, Table Tennis. Women's Singles Silver Medallist
Nur Shafinas Abdul Rahman, Taekwondo. Women's 55 kg Bronze Medallist
Football. Team Bronze Medallist

• 1 ISSF Junior Cup Team Silver Medallist

Suhl, Germany, 2015
Adele Tan Qian Xiu, Ho Xiu Yi and Martina Lindsay P Veloso, Shooting. Women’s 10m Air Rifle Team Silver Medallist

• 1 ISSF Junior Cup Individual Bronze Medallist

Suhl, Germany, 2015
Martina Lindsay P Veloso, Shooting. Women’s 10m Air Rifle Individual Bronze Medallist

• 1 Asian Fencing Junior and Cadet Championships Gold Medallist

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2015
Neville Lim Woon Juin, Fencing. Cadet Boys' U20 Épée Gold Medallist

• 3 Commonwealth Fencing Junior and Cadet Championships Gold Medallists

Cape Town, South Africa, 2015
Amita Berthier, Fencing. Cadet Girls' U20 Foil Gold Medallist
Amita Berthier, Fencing. Junior Girls' U17 Foil Gold Medallist
Ryan Ong Ren-An, Fencing. Cadet Boys' U20 Foil Gold Medallist

• 60 Asian Youth Games Competitors (5 Gold, 6 Silver, 8 Bronze Medals)
• 5 Asian Champions; 3 Records
• 1 World Junior Champion
• 10 Asian Youth Champions
• 2 Commonwealth Youth Games Champions
• 301 National Open Representatives (as of 31 December 2014)
• 139 National Schools Titles

Notable alumni

• Calvin Kang: Olympian (Athletics, Sprinter)
• Dipna Lim Prasad: Olympian (Athletics, Hurdler)
• Mylene Ong: Olympian (Swimming)
• Tao Li: Olympian (Swimming)

See also

• Innova Junior College, which lies adjacent to the Singapore Sports School

References

External links

• Singapore Sports School - Official website
• Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth - Official website