Sports School Reaches Out To Primary Schools

Programmes That Nurture Champions

By Li Peixin

Senior Executive, Strategic Communications

Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced to football when he was eight years old. Michael Phelps dived into a pool and started training at the age of seven. Both world-class athletes have one thing in common: they embarked on their sport journey early and discovered their talent at a young age. To identify and recruit top young football talents, the Singapore Sports School Football Academy conducted a training session with coaches and football players from White Sands Primary School.

In the evening of 2 October 2019, 13 Sports School student-athletes, 10 of whom are also alumni of White Sands Primary School, had a fruitful session with the younger players. The student-athletes assisted in the coaching session to train basic football skills in a fun and enjoyable manner.

Beyond the basics, the young footballers from White Sands Primary also had the opportunity to hear from our coaches on their coaching philosophy. The budding footballers definitely had a ball at the coaching clinic. The student-athletes were also an inspiration to many of the young footballers.

The Football Academy’s belief and commitment in developing future generations of footballers extends beyond nurturing the talents that come through the doors of Singapore Sports School. The Academy has taken an active interest in raising the bar of football played amongst players in the Under 10 and 11 age-groups. Starting from 21 September, Sports School has become an ActiveSG Football Academy Development Centre which aims to hone the skills of talented young footballers.

Sports School’s Fencing Academy is also in the business of growing the sport through their Learn To Fence (LTF) programme started in 2014. The LTF programme introduces the sport to primary school pupils and nurtures the skills of talented ones. On 3 October, four post-secondary Year 1 fencers had the opportunity to bring the sport to Primary 1 to 6 pupils at St. Gabriel's Primary School during their Annual Sports and Games Day. The Gabrielites were taught the basic skills before engaging in a fun sparring session. Interested pupils were also invited to join the Fencing Academy's LTF programme.