Today December 28, 2007 By Low Lin Fhoong Scouts will pick out sports stars from primary schools Phase 1 was the Singapore Sports School, to help mould the Republic's brightest sporting prospects into stars while they receive their secondary education. Now, the Ministry of Education is taking the search for excellence a step further - by spotting talents while they are in primary school. At the annual general meeting for the Singapore Sports School Council and Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council yesterday, Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew announced the launch of a Talent Development Framework next year. "Early identification and development of sports talent is necessary for success in the long term,' said RAdm Lui. "We will identify two groups of athletes: The first group are athletes who already excel in their respective sports; and the second group are those who may not play the sport but have the potential to do well in it. "A multi-pronged approach based on competition results, scouting, nomination by schools and Napfa test results will be used to identify the athletes for selection trails." Six sports will be offered in the pilot scheme and will involve the top 1 per cent of the current Primary 4 cohort, who will train at Junior Sports Academies in four zones. The Education Ministry expects the four academies to cater to 280 athletes in the first year, with plans to expand the number of hothouses to 16, accommodating about 1,000 students in Primary 5 and Primary 6 in the coming years. More sports will be included if the scheme is successful. The first batch of students for wushu and badminton has been selected, with trials for the remaining four sports to be conducted early next year. Mrs Jennifer Tay, 47, mother of twin gymnasts and this year's SEA Games gold medallists Nicole and Tabitha Tay, welcomed the move. "It's good that they're talent-scouting from a young age, so they will be able to groom them earlier to reach a competitive level." "Younger athletes learn techniques faster ... they're also more agile and supple," she added. The framework aims to provide the Singapore Schools Sports team with more support in coaching, sports medicine and sports science, and overseas competitions. By the end of 2009, school coaches and teachers will get help in identifying and developing talents as the Education Ministry plans to develop sports skills tests, guides and athlete development tracking systems. The 4 Junior Sports Academies are: 1. North Zone: Singapore Sports School: Netball, swimming, table tennis, track and field 2. South Zone: Singapore Table Tennis Association: Table tennis 3. East Zone: Chung Cheng High Main: Wushu 4. West Zone: Henry Park Primary: Badminton
Well if what you stated in your profile your level of play as "suck", then you may not have much of a chance, I'm afraid. At 16, you still have lots of room for improvement. Why not make 2008 a year for you to make at least the intermediate level!
I wanted to train, but I just could not find any means, practicing with my friends would do me more harm than good. on the other hand, my other friends seem to be too strong for me, or that they are too busy. I posted a thread asking if anyone would want to practice but no replies. I am really purplexed. Mr Loh, what are your opinions?
As a start, it would be good if you receive some proper coaching. Learning the basics is very important. You need to pay the coach for his services. Can you afford it? It may mean that you need to save the coaching fee from your pocket allowance. If that is too tough for you, then you can visit some of the training centres and watch the training in progress to get some tips on how the training is conducted and what are the skills involved. You can also borrow some training/coaching DVDs to see how it is done. Then practise these skills on your own and experiment on your friends and put what you've learnt into action. You should not worry whether they are better or worse than you. Better still if you can persuade or convince one or more of your friends to join you and make the same New Year resolution of playing better badminton. Your focus should be on perfecting your own strokes the right way. For example, if you are learning how to clear make sure you do it right with your body and arm action and the shuttle flies fast and high enough to reach the baseline. In the beginning, you may hit the shuttle too short or outside the baseline. Then your aim is to hit and control it within "perfection".
I have been training once a week for a year. But I feel that it is not enough, I try to find ways to improve but ultimately a proper training session is much better. Currently after working part time, I can pay for more training, so I hope it can help me.
Training alone doesn't do the trick... a lot depends on who trains you and who you train with For instance, the US is more likely to produce a great basketball player than, say, Sri Lanka... or Indonesia or China or Malaysia is more likely to produce a great badminton player than, say, Samoa or Spain. Once a team has a few good players, the whole team gets better as they are able to train consistently at a progressively higher level (and that's how powerhouses in any game are born). You'd do well to play more with people better than you - or at least, as good as you are. If you're alright with criticism and being advised, you'll develop better strategy, greater skill and more precise techniques. Of course, you will also learn through trial and error and from experimentation (which means quite a few on-court losses too) Depending on where (in Singapore) you are, you could always join a regular group that has more than a couple of good, experienced players. It's never too late to do it
you mean that I should get stronger players and keep challenging myself right? I know a few friends from a powerhouse school, but I dont think they would want to play with me because I am too lousy for them. Whatever the case, thank you guys for the advices.
It is certainly a good step in terms of initiative. This should have been done long ago I guess. Spotting in one thing, but plan is needed to make it work. What are the process being put into place to make it work in the end. This is what I believe is a challenge for those who are organizing this. I hope with some of the experience available (if any), they can make it work. I still don't see the infrastructure or environment is ready for it as all these initiative is very strict interms of selection or criteria and having 'meeting the budget' and also doing what I am paid to do kinda mentality. In this case like what ling wants to do, not many can have the luxury to join groups or make badminton affordable to them. Cost is a problem here and it'll certainly be a challenge for those who are keen but can't afford it. There may be a few who may get the support, but I guess, the number just don't add up or in other words. There's no capacity to make it successful.
hey i think i myself have been in a similar situation as you not too long ago. Try the better recreational players/lousier school team players/strong GIRLS
I often play during girls' team training. It seems as if they go there all the time, but now that school has reopened, maybe they will be training in their hall. However, lets not get too side tracked, and my problem about unable to find training is not the main topic of this thread, although i really hope that I can receive help.
when is trials i hear that the sports academy trials is tomorrow jan 19 at sports school. any idea what is the time
I think that that's a very pessimistic way to view it. While ofcourse it is not open to everyone to participate in, they are targetting at developing the most enthusiastic players and also most talented players. By definition itself, it is not a place for everyone because not everyone can be that committed to ensure that they don't quit half way and not everyone have the talent to learn at a pace beyond the rest to compete with the rest of the world. While in terms of numbers they don't compare with the rest of the world, I have no doubts that the most talented of these players are just as equally talented than those in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and etc. And the truth is, some of the secondary school students that I help out with in their training, have proven themselves to be just as talented as their Indonesian counter-parts. The only difference is probably in their commitment to making it big in the international field and as thus their overall performance. However I think that that can change if they are groomed from when they are young to have hope in making it big and also have the discipline to carry it out.
Can you elaborate on your statement and what are the steps necessary (and suggest solutions) to overcome any shortcomings?
One way would be to get the Sports School or SBA people to follow up on these players. Nurture them, guide them and support them. Need parents coorperations as well. So, lots of communications, planning and brain storming. Its a big project & commitment. Hopefully money well spent.
selections. BTW are these by invitations only? Any where its being published? The list looks small. Wonder why not more? No economies of scale? Appreciate it.
sba This is a good example of coordination. In order to get better participants, they should have sent this invitation out to all the coaches. Perhaps there will be more joining in. Am sure some will make noise having missed out. Looks like best player wins kind of selection. What if those kids having potential? There's a paradox between skills (good potential) and points (proven).
