Gerald Giam on motion calling for clear and achievable goals for sporting success

Singapore continues to have “a narrow pipeline” of world-class athletes for various reasons. Top athletes have to start high-intensity training from a young age and in Singapore, this coincides with the time they are busiest with studies and exams. Students in mainstream local schools will find it difficult to balance their studies with a heavy load of training, competition and overseas travel to take part in tournaments. Becoming a professional athlete is also “not a ticket out of poverty” in Singapore as it is in some countries. With parents being well aware of this, many talented student athletes end up choosing mainstream schools rather than attending the specialised Singapore Sports School. MP Gerald Giam made these points in Parliament on Thursday (Jul 6). He said given how important academics are to Singaporeans, it is not fruitful to try to persuade them to choose sports over studies. So, Singapore should explore pathways that allow student athletes to pursue both studies and sports at the highest level. Mr Giam made several suggestions, including the US college pathway which offers student athletes “the best of both worlds” but for which “there appears to be a lack of awareness”. He also suggested that the Singapore Sports School expand its enrolment of students beyond the nine academy sports and provide a study-and-train environment for more student athletes. To succeed, the Sports School and SportSG would need to better market the benefits of their sports and academic programmes to prospective students, he said. Mr Giam also said the local media must play a bigger role in featuring local athletes in international competitions, to spur public interest in sports.