Apparel, Equipment Sponsors Have Stake In Developing Sport Champions

It takes a village to raise a Champion. Our sponsors play an important role in nurturing Learned Champions With Character. Sports product manufacturers Pacific Sports Pte Ltd (Molten) and Sunrise & Co (Pte) Ltd (Yonex) have been sponsoring Sports School’s academies for 15 years and more. Thanks to our sponsors, our student-athletes are able to dress comfortably, and use the best equipment during training and competitions.

Yonex-Sunrise has been a long-time partner of the Singapore Sports School, especially for the Badminton Academy where Yonex is the Academy’s official apparel and equipment sponsor. With the sponsorship, our shuttlers were able to enjoy the best training equipment and clad in the most comfortable attire during training and competitions. Olympians Loh Kean Yew, Yeo Jia Min, national shuttlers Tan Wei Han and Terry Hee Yong Kai, were also some of them who were supported by Yonex during their years as student-athletes in Sports School's Badminton Academy.

Yonex-Sunrise is also a strong supporter of the school’s Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) programme. In 2010, the Yonex-Singapore Sports School Junior Excellence Programme was launched to support and groom budding badminton talents aged 10 to 12 years old. The programme, which was suspended last year due to the pandemic, has sparked the sporting interest of our shuttlers, and by allowing them to start training at a young age, giving them a competitive edge to pursue the sport at a higher level. Secondary student-athletes Chia Xin Ying (Secondary 2) and Marcus Phil Lau Jun Hui (Secondary 4), and post-secondary student-athlete Torance Jng Yao Chee (DBS Year 2) are some of the shuttlers who have benefitted from the programme.

“Even though I was not a very good player then, the Yonex-Singapore Sports School Junior Excellence Programme has provided me with good opportunities to start my sport journey to become a high-performing badminton player,” shared Xin Ying who joined the programme when she was in Kong Hwa School at Primary 4.

“With the aid of the coaches in the programme, they helped me to improve my badminton skills, stamina and physical strength. The coaches were also devoted to bring the best out of the players whilst making the training enjoyable at the same time,” said Marcus, an alumnus of Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), who was also the 2018 and 2019 National School Games champion.

Torance, who is currently doing the customised Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, enrolled in the Junior Excellence Programme when he was in Primary 4 in St. Andrew’s Junior School. He said, “I did not have to pay any fees for the Programme so it did not add any financial burden to my parents.”

“Yonex has been integral in the success of the Badminton Academy. With 75 years of experience in the badminton industry, Yonex is known as the market leader in badminton excellence. The sponsorship has allowed student-athletes to train without having to be burdened by the cost of training attires and equipment. It has also elevated the training quality as the student-athletes are equipped with quality products. The Academy is thankful to Yonex for supporting the school and our student-athletes,” said Desmond Tan, General Manager of the Badminton Academy.

Besides the Badminton Academy, Yonex is also the apparel sponsor for four other academies – Bowling, Fencing, Netball and Shooting. “We would like to thank Yonex for the sponsorship. We are grateful to have such good quality shirts provided for our everyday use during trainings,” shared Taneisha Kaur Teo Eelin, Secondary 4 student-athlete from the Bowling Academy.

Beyond training attire, the Netball Academy also enjoys the benefit of equipment sponsorship by its other sponsor – Pacific Sports which provides the Academy with Molten equipment. The company has been a loyal partner of the Netball Academy for 17 years. Through the sponsorship, our netballers enjoy high quality balls and accessories for their training and matches without the need to worry about cost.

“Molten has been our dedicated equipment sponsor since Sports School started in 2004. Their support to the school’s initiatives and programmes, such as the International Youth Sports Challenge (IYNC), and their presence at various school functions and events, showed their dedicated effort in growing and supporting our netballers. Our girls are indeed fortunate to have benefited vastly from the company’s devotion to see the success of the academy over the years. The company also dedicates themselves to research and development, and always keep up with times on developing new netballs and rackets that are in line with the changing technology. The School is indeed grateful to be benefitting from their instinctive support,” shared Lee Min Li, Senior General Manager of the Netball Academy. 

Netball Academy Captain Jolyn Deanne Sim Giak Ying is just as thankful of the high quality equipment which Molten provides to the team. “Over the years, we received support from Molten in terms of training and competition equipment, like netballs, bibs, cones, nets and ball bags. Their support has allowed us to train with high quality equipment regardless of season. Molten has also supported us greatly in our annual highlights such, as the IYNC, providing us with additional equipment to host such events. With their support, we are able to continue our home-based training without having to worry about the shortage of equipment,” said the IBDP Year 6 student-athlete.