Getting into a school sports team can be very competitive these days. Schools usually hold trials to select only the best athletes to represent the mat the National School Games.
Many students want to take up sports like badminton, basketball or football as their co-curricular activity (CCA) in school, only to be disappointed that they can’t get a place in the CCA. Some are left with no choice but to join a CCA they have little interest in.
To cater to students who want to play sports for leisure but lack formal training, schools should open up more recreational sports CCAs for popular sports. Many schools already do this, but some still don’t.
To manage limited resources, schools could adjust the number of CCA places to match demand. This way, schools can ensure that every student who wants to participate in sports at their skill level has the opportunity to do so.
On the other end of the spectrum, top performing student-athletes who have the potential to represent Singapore at international competitions are often still required to train with their school sports teams.
High-performance sports training usually takes place outside of school at training programmes run by National Sports Associations or private academies. These student-athletes should have the option to be excused from school training and competition so as to better focus on becoming world-class athletes who can compete on the world stage and win medals for Singapore. They should still be allowed to earn LEAPS 2.0 points while doing so. I will discuss the sports aspect of this further in my cut at the MCCY Committee of Supply debate.
