$15 Million to Support Youth Sports Development Initiatives
2009-04-29
A total of $15 million has been jointly committed by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), the Ministry of Education (MOE) and ToteBoard, to support youth sports development initiatives. The announcement was made today by the Singapore Youth Sports Development (SYSD) Committee who will be working with key stakeholders to develop youth sports.
Formed in September 2008 by MCYS and MOE, the committee seeks to raise overall youth sports participation through strengthening the sports system, catalysing a sporting culture, and performing well at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The Committee is co-chaired by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Transport, and Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, and Home Affairs. It comprises members from MCYS, MOE, the Singapore National Olympic Council, Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the Singapore Sports School (SSP), and National Sports Associations (NSAs).
The Terms of Reference (TOR) for the SYSD committee are to:Seek alignment across agencies in the direction of sports development among youth;Seek alignment among key stakeholders in youth sports development to create a long term athlete development pipeline; andGuide the holistic implementation of the plans supporting the national youth sports development.
In aligning systems to create a long term athlete development pipeline the committee discussed the following ideas:The preparation of youth athletes through specialised workshops and programmesA sports medicine and sports science support structure;The creation of a national talent development framework in sports, riding on existing systems and processes in place such as the MOE Talent Development Framework for sports and MCYS/SSC Sports Excellence system;The set-up of Satellite Centres for sports development; andThe improvement of youth coaching, technical and officiating capabilities.These ideas will be further developed over the next few months.
Said Mr Masagos, "Bringing key individuals from various agencies together is just the first step in building on existing frameworks to develop youth sports. Sports facilitate the holistic development of our children from a young age. Through working with MCYS we hope that our students always have structures that will support a healthy and sporty lifestyle throughout. We can also better maximise the potential of Singapore youth and produce winners in their chosen field."
Mr Teo added, "This Committee brings together shared expertise which will help to achieve sporting excellence in Singapore. The additional boost is especially timely in view of the fact that Singapore will be hosting the Youth Olympic Games in 2010."