The issue of foreign talents was raised by Member of Parliament Ms Grace Fu yesterday at the People’s Action Party (PAP) conference.
According to a report in Today, the MP was informed by the table tennis coach in her son’s school that players “who are one or two years older than their peers – and well trained in China – are being recruited just before competition by some schools.”
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She said: “They beat our boys easily and demoralised our boys and their coaches in the process. While it's important that our children realise that a strong opponent will make them stronger, perhaps we should moderate the rules so that our children will feel that they're given a fair chance of winning," said Ms Fu.
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Is it any surprise that it is table tennis doing this? They are probably encouraged by the STTA. STTA has to stop its “foreigners only” policy.
I believe that the issue of foreign players (or “talents” if that’s what you want to call them) has been addressed even in many leagues around the world. For instance, the EPL has been limiting the number of foreign players a team can have, and i believe that the same should be applied in the sports scene in Singapore, especially in the Schools.
Yes, while foreign talent provides for competition to raise the standards of the local game, there has to be a certain limit as to how these foreign talents are recruited.
If the schools recruit these foreign players just before a competition so as to win the title, I believe it is wrong and detrimental to the local sports scene in general. What we should be looking for is to spot these so called talents, bring them in, and train them alongside local players. Train them locally, and build them up, not bring them in when they’re already that good just to win a competition.