2000
Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, who was serving as the Minister for Community Development and Sports, mooted the idea of a Sports School in 2000 to boost the nation’s development in sports.
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Our History
Our History
Celebrating 20 Years of Nurturing Learned Champions with Character
Singapore Sports School was officially opened on 2 April 2004 by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Singapore's second Prime Minister. Our School is the only school in Singapore that offers select youths an integrated academic and sports programme in a world-class environment.
Laying the Foundation
2001 - 2002
The plan to open a Sports School in
Singapore was approved in 2001. The
ground breaking ceremony, held on 11
November 2002, was graced by Dr Yaacob
Ibrahim, who was the Acting Minister for
Foundation
Community Development and Sports.
2003
Singapore Sports School introduced itself to the
public at the "Making of Champions Roadshow"
on 2 August 2003. A robust crowd of 3,000
attended the event at the Singapore Expo, where
approximately 1,200 Primary 6 students signed
up for sports selection trials.
Beginning at One Champions Way
2004
Singapore Sports School opened its doors to its first
batch of student-athletes. Local singer-songwriter
Corrinne May wrote the School Anthem, which was
sung for the first time at the inaugural school
assembly on 5 January 2004.
The official opening of the School on 2 April 2004
was marked by a 20km torch relay, with Dr Yaacob
Ibrahim, then Minister for Community
Development and Sports, lighting the relay torch
at his Ministry’s foyer on Thomson Road. Student-athletes
then passed along, running in 800m
segments to the School auditorium for the
opening ceremony by Mr Goh Chok Tong,
Singapore’s second Prime Minister.
Mr Moo Soon Chong was the founding principal of the
school from 2004 to 2007. The Outstanding
Student-Athlete of the Year was renamed to The Moo
Soon Chong Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year
Award in 2011 to honour the late principal, for his
immense contributions and visionary leadership. It is
the pinnacle award presented annually to all-rounded
student-athletes.
On 23 August 2004, Sports School created its first through-train post-secondary programme with
Auckland University of Technology.
High-performing student-athletes could bypass
the GCE O-Level examinations to take the Diploma
in Sports Management and Exercise Science.
Making of Champions
2007
Singapore Sports School signed Partnership
Agreements with nine National Sports
Associations to affirm their commitment to
work together to develop and nurture Sports
School’s student-athletes.
2008
Swimmer Tao Li and sprinter Calvin Kang Li Loong are Sports
School’s first student-athletes to represent Singapore at the
Olympic Games. Held in Beijing, Tao Li set a new Asian record
of 57.54s in the Women’s 100m Butterfly, becoming the first
Singaporean to reach a swimming final and eventually finished
5th in the event.
The first batch of student-athletes
who joined the School in 2004
received their GCE O-Level
Examination results.
Maximising Potential in Sports and Studies
2010
Singapore Sports School collaborated with
Republic Polytechnic to offer the customised
Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management.
The partnership with Republic Polytechnic
aimed to give high-performing
student-athletes greater flexibility in
academic pacing and assessment as they
pursue their sports goals.
Sports School hosted Modern
Pentathlon, Shooting and Swimming
at the Singapore 2010 Youth
Olympic Games. 22 present
and past student-athletes
competed in the Games.
2011
Sports School collaborated with
Singapore Badminton Association
and Singapore Table Tennis
Association to launch the
School-Within-A-School (SWS)
programme. The programme
provided optimised training and
customised academic support for
high-performing student-athletes.
2013
Scott Ang Yiqiang is the first
student-athlete to be awarded
the President’s Scholarship.
The 2009 Swimming alumnus,
who represented Singapore in
Triathlon at the Singapore
2010 Youth Olympic Games,
received the Public Service
Commission’s SAF Overseas
Scholarship in July 2012.
Rising to the Challenge
2014
At the School’s 10th Anniversary
Awards Night, Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong challenged the School
to continually review its work so as
to stay relevant in the changing
sports landscape
The International Baccalaureate
Diploma Programme (IBDP) was
launched to offer a longer
development runway and greater
flexibility for our student-athletes to
pursue sporting and academic
excellence concurrently.
The first batch of 20 high-performing student-athletes graduated from the customised Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management programme. Among them is Table Tennis alumna Isabelle Li Siyun. She was Sports School’s first student-athlete from the polytechnic programme to receive the Public Service Commission Scholarship.
2015
Sports School was recognised as
an Athlete-Friendly Education
Centre as part of the partnership
between the International
Baccalaureate Organisation and
the World Academy of Sport.
It became the only education
institution in Singapore to have
an extended IBDP programme
that allows high-performing
student-athletes to complete
their IBDP in three years instead
of the usual two years.
At the Singapore 2015 Southeast Asian
Games, Veronica Shanti Pereira won
Singapore’s first medal in the Women’s
100m, a bronze, and the first gold medal in
the Women’s 200m event in 42 years.
Soaring to Greater Heights
2016
NYSI Hub @ Sports School was officially opened by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin,
President of Singapore National Olympic Council and then Minister for
Social and Family Development. The National Youth Sports Institute is a
youth-centric sport organisation that aims to positively impact the
Singapore youth sports ecosystem. NYSI works closely with Sports School
to drive youth sport development through talent identification, youth
coaching, sport science and athlete life management.
Singapore Sports School and Ngee Ann
Polytechnic signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to offer student-athletes a
customised Diploma in Business Studies.
Nurturing Champions In Sport, For Sports, In Life
2017
Yeo Jia Min became the first Singaporean
shuttler to reach World No. 1 on
Badminton World Federation’s World
Junior Women’s Singles.
2019
Singapore Sports School celebrated its 15th
Anniversary on 13 February 2019.
Amita Berthier became Singapore’s first World
No. 1 junior foil fencer, while Koen Pang Yew En
became the first Singaporean to achieve World
No. 1 ranking for Under-18s in Table Tennis.
Soaring to Greater Heights
2021
The Singapore Sports School
Alumni Association was officially
launched on 28 January 2021.
Paddler Izaac Quek Yong became
the first Singaporean to top the
Under 15 boys’ world ranking list.
Alumnus Loh Kean Yew was
crowned Singapore’s first
badminton World Champion after a
stunning run to the title at the
Badminton World Championships.
2023
IBDP student-athlete Zeanne Law and alumnus Jowen Lim were crowned World Champions in the World Wushu Championships. Alumnus Darren Ong was also crowned World Champion after winning the title at the IBF World Bowling Championships.
PRESENT
Sports School celebrates its 20th Anniversary, themed 'Deeply Rooted, Soaring High'. It continues its journey towards its vision of being Singapore’s Premier School for Aspiring National Athletes. Its mission is to nurture aspiring national athletes into learned champions with character: champions in sport, for sports, and in life.