Same Same, But Different Orientation For 2021 Batch

Singapore Sports School e-Orientation 2020

For the first time since 2003, Singapore Sports School’s incoming batch of student-athletes attended their “Orientation Camp” online. The Sports School e-Orientation (SSeO) on 12 and 16 October 2020 provided prospective student-athletes an opportunity to get to know their soon-to-be teammates, as well as Academy staff and seniors.

In previous years, the annual two-day Camp gave prospective student-athletes a taste of what their life would be like in the years to come through Academy training and an overnight stay in Boarding. Team-bonding games are also a main feature of the physical camp to help campers build rapport with their future academy mates.

While a physical camp could not be organised this year, participants were still able to forge friendships through quizzes to get to know one another better and online games like skribbl.io and trending multi-player game Among Us. A highlight of the SSeO was when prospective student-athletes got to put their sport ability to use in fun and engaging ways during a TikTok-style “home-based training”, such as by filming the #dontrushchallenge or learning a YouTube dance workout that tested their ball-handling skills. The online games and HBT segments were facilitated by through-train-bound Secondary 4 and 5 student-athletes.

To replicate a camp-like feeling, goodie bags containing an event shirt, the school’s 15th Anniversary commemorative book, and a school luggage tag were prepared for each prospective student-athlete and delivered personally to them by their General Managers. Due to safe management measures, contactless delivery was adopted.

“Attending the e-Orientation was a good experience as I got to learn about my new school and the Netball Academy staff who will be journeying with me starting next year. I also met some seniors and got to know my teammates better through Quizizz,” said Primary 6 netballer Danya Chua from Evergreen Primary School.

The three-part SSeO concluded with a webinar for parents of the prospective student-athletes which included a sharing by Sporting Parents Network representative Alan Lok, father of Secondary 2 bowler Ashley Victoria Lok, and Principal Ong Kim Soon, before ending with a Question and Answer segment.