NSAs To Adopt Multi Year Planning For Sustained Sporting Success

NSAs To Adopt Multi-Year Planning For Sustained Sporting Success

• NSAs to Focus on Developing Youth-centric Sports Pathways

• NSAs to Heighten Professionalism in the Development of Their Sports

Singapore, 23 September 2009 - The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) kick-started the Annual National Sports Association Grant Exercise (ANGE) for Financial Year (FY) 2010 today with an SSC-NSA dialogue session chaired by SSC's CEO Mr Oon Jin Teik, during which he shared the need for NSAs to adopt a holistic approach to grow and develop their sports. The key areas that NSAs need to focus on are multi-year planning, developing sports pathways and exercising uncompromised professionalism in their approach to the running of their sports.

Multi-year Planning

2. The advent of major sports events and initiatives in the sports scene, such as the SEA Games, Youth Olympic Games, Sports Hub, Changi Motor Sports Hub, calls for NSAs to have foresight and adopt multi-year planning that focuses on medium- to long-term strategies, instead of short-term goals.

3. The NSAs were given a head-start on the enhanced ANGE application criteria with a briefing conducted by SSC's Chief for Sports Development Group, Mr Bob Gambardella. Each NSA was also provided with a copy of the Multi-Year Sports Performance Plan Guidelines, which is specifically developed to help them with their multi-year planning proposals. The SSC will be working closely with the NSAs with the development of their plans.

4. Commenting on the necessity for multi-year planning, Mr Oon said, "Sporting success takes years to build and will require multi-year plans. Multi-year planning must become a baseline requirement for all NSAs if they are to achieve sustained competitive excellence at world and Olympic events in the short, medium and long term. NSAs which develop multi-year plans will also have greater certainty and predictability when it comes to grants that they receive from the SSC."

Developing Youth-centric Sports Pathways

5. The SSC emphasised the importance for NSAs to build development pathways for the youth, as they represent Singapore's future batch of athletes, coaches and technical officials. This is aligned with the national programmes that the SSC unveiled on 6 April 2009, which are focused on building capabilities across the sports sector to develop the next generation of athletes, coaches, officials and sports journalists and photographers.

6. Said Mr Oon, "Everything we do is connected. It is impossible to have a succession of athletes, coaches and officials, without a quality base to choose from. Thus, it is important for the sporting fraternity to work together to prepare the future generations to take on these roles for Singapore."

Continuous Professionalism to Commensurate with Expectations

7. NSAs are urged to up the ante in their overall performance and organisational excellence, and exercise uncompromised professionalism towards the administration and development of their sports. To do this, the Associations should continuously practise a forward-looking approach to recruitment, human capital development and performance measurement.

8. Ensuing its funding strategy for FY2009 that was aimed at building NSAs' capabilities, the SSC will continue to assist the NSAs to raise their organisational excellence in areas of governance, compliance, sports planning and strategic development in FY2010.

9. "As part of our long-term strategy of developing Sporting Singapore, the NSAs need to build development pathways for their respective fraternity and raise their organisational capabilities. A larger pool of talented and trained athletes, coaches and officials is always important for us to meet Singapore's sporting objectives. In the area of capabilities-building, with the SSC's assistance, every member of the fraternity - whether big or small - should strengthen itself and emerge a stronger, ever-professional player. Only then will sports in Singapore thrive," concluded Mr Oon.

Issued by the Singapore Sports Council, Marketing Communications Division on 23 September 2009

For media enquiries, please contact:

Tanty Nazlianah Rosli
Manager, Marketing Communications
Singapore Sports Council
Email: Tanty_NAZLIANAH@ssc.gov.sg

Rhonda Koh
Director, Marketing Communications
Singapore Sports Council
Email: Rhonda_KOH@ssc.gov.sg

About Singapore Sports Council
The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is Singapore's lead agency tasked with developing sports in Singapore. Our vision is to create a Sporting Singapore where Sports is a way of life. SSC aims to develop sports champions and create enjoyable sporting experiences for Singapore through the three strategic thrusts of cultivating a sporting culture, achieving sports excellence and creating a vibrant sports industry. Formed on 1 October 1973, SSC is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. Please visit the SSC website at www.ssc.gov.sg for more information.