Sponsorships Of Food, Beverage, Air Travel Fuel Sport Development

If there is one regular item that student-athletes will find at mealtimes in The Arena, it is the chocolate malt drink MILO. The drink is served daily in Singapore Sports School’s dining hall and student-athletes continue to enjoy the beverage thanks to our long-term sponsor Nestlé Singapore (Pte) Ltd.

“MILO has, and always will, be a drink that we student-athletes at Singapore Sports School look forward to. Its nutrients and ingredients help in our recovery after a tough training session. The flavourful drink is a personal favourite, and possibly for most of my schoolmates too,” said Shan s/o S Anandan, a DBS Year 1 student-athlete from the Track and Field Academy.

Nestlé Singapore is one of the School’s longest-standing partners, together with Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), who have supported the Sports School and its student-athletes from the very first year of operations in 2004. Nestlé Singapore also provides an annual monetary sum to fund the training of high-performance student-athletes.

With their provision of tickets for overseas travel, SIA has been unwavering in their support these 17 years. The tickets help to defray the cost of travelling, thus creating more opportunities for student-athletes to hone their trade with one less financial burden on their minds.

“The support from Singapore Airlines provides us student-athletes with more opportunities for overseas travel to train and compete and up our game at a more affordable cost. In 2019, I was able to benefit from the sponsorship when my teammates and I travelled to Bangkok to compete in the 45th MWA SINGHA-Thailand International Open,” said Jovan Chua, who is now in IBDP Year 6. The bowler won Singapore’s only gold in the tournament by clinching the Youth Under 18 Masters title.

The collaboration with SIA is also an advantage for student-athletes who require special logistical arrangements for their sport. “Special weight allowances was made so that we could bring the bowling balls that we require to bowl our best game,” added Jovan.

From 2012, a second beverage company, F&N Interflavine Pte Ltd, started offering our student-athletes hydration after an intensive training session or competition. 100PLUS, in bottled form and subsequently through a BIB machine installed in The Arena, is made available to student-athletes who wish to replenish and rehydrate during or after a gruelling session.

“My training sessions are usually long and intense. Having bottles of 100PLUS during my training helps to keep me hydrated and give me that extra burst of energy when I'm really tired, so that I can finish my training well,” said national artistic gymnast Abdul Barr Abdulatiff (Secondary 2). F&N also provides the School with Ice Mountain bottled water.

In addition to beverages to help in recovery post-training, food is also essential in student-athletes’ recovery and ensuring they are in optimal condition for the next training session. Up to five meals are prepared for active, growing teenage athletes. Packets of Khong Guan biscuits are also readily available for student-athletes to grab and go and consume between meals if they get hungry.

“The Khong Guan biscuits really help me stay focused during classes. I am someone who always gets hungry no matter how much I eat and the Khong Guan biscuits are very useful in keeping my hunger at bay. Before I head to class, I would take a few packets with me so that I can eat them during my breaks,” said Ilham Iskandar Iskandar, a Secondary 3 footballer.

When physical events were organised in Sports School pre-Covid-19, a MILO van could be sighted in the school compound at certain events. The van would draw throngs of people to consume the cold, tasty beverage.

“During the primary school invitational meet that the Track and Field Academy used to organise annually before Covid-19, the MILO van was one of the highlights of the event. It was a perk-me-up for tired competitors, as well as student-athlete and parent volunteers after spending hours on their feet under the hot sun,” Shan said of the energy beverage.

Sports School also hosts occasional swimming meets in its sheltered pools. To host the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games swimming competition in the Sports School, an LED scoreboard on which start lists and results could be displayed digitally to spectators. The approximately 5m-long by 3m-tall board, furnished by Spectrum Imaging, was gifted to the school in 2013, with regular maintenance and updates of the timing system provided by the company to ensure that the timing and scoring system provides accurate measurements for swimming competitions.

The timing system from Spectrum Imaging comes with a timer and devices, including touch pads, from Omega. The timing system has been an asset to the Sports School in hosting national and international events like the National School Swimming Championships, Singapore National Swimming Championships and the Youth Olympic Games. The system has helped in organising internal events like the Singapore Sports School Para Games for disabled athletes, and time trials to simulate a competition environment and prepare student-athletes for racing.

“The timing system allows us to hold internal meets which are especially important during this pandemic, as we do not have many competition opportunities. These internal meets where we compete with our teammates in a competition-like setting gives us a platform to accurately gauge our standard against our teammates and ourselves individually. The accurate and precise timing system eliminates human errors from hand timing, providing us a better measure of where we stand,” said post-secondary swimmer Candice Ang Ruo Han (DBS Year 2).