The Singapore Sports School

The Singapore Sports School

The Singapore Sports School is a specialized school providing a good academic and training environment for talented young athletes. The idea for establishing a specialised school for young athletes was mooted by the Committee on Sporting Singapore in 2000. The CoSS had noted that Singapore's demanding academic environment places a lot pressure on young athletes, leading most of them to abandon their sporting aspirations in favour of their studies. In mainstream schools, it was also observed, resources given over to elite sports development are often limited as their focus is usually directed towards a quality academic education. Following the Government's decision, the hardware had to be put in place -- a S$75 million complex in Woodlands that eventually took only 13 months to complete. Mrs Deborah Tan, the school principal, is assisted by Mr Chua Choon Seng who heads the Corporate Services Division, Dr Irwin Seet, who is the Director of Sports, and Mr Raymond Mak and Mr Seah Poh Chua, who are the Deans of the Academic Division. No other school in Singapore connects sports and studies so closely as the Sports School, which comes under the auspices of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. Apart from providing a modular curriculum to enable students to meet the rigorous demands of training and competition, the Sports School puts each student on a personal journey towards excellence. It helps its students to be the best they can be both in the competition arena and in class. The Sports School's focus is not on winning, but on reaching the student's potential. In this culture, a student not only learns about discipline and mental focus, but also cultivates a desire to excel.