Minister of State Teo Ser Luck (extreme right) with equestrian Maximillian Tan and other Team Singapore athletes who will benefit from the new schemes. “Athletes commit much of their prime to help bring glory to Singapore. While the expectation on them is high, we should assure them they are being taken care of now and in the future after their sports career,” said Mr Teo. (Photo 1 courtesy of Singapore Sports Council)
Float@Marina Bay, Tuesday, November 12, 2013 – The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) will provide support for more than 1,000 Team Singapore athletes through the Sports Excellence Education Scheme and Sports Excellence Career Scheme. The schemes provide a support system for athletes to effectively cope with competitive sport along with their careers or studies.
Launching the schemes was Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and chairman of the High Performance Sports (HPS) Selection and Performance Sub-Committee.
“Athletes commit much of their prime to help bring glory to Singapore. There are sacrifices, and dedication on the part of the athletes. While the expectation on them is high, we should assure them they are being taken care of now and in the future after their sports career,” said Mr Teo.
The Spex Career Scheme provides flexi-time work arrangements, flexi-leave, and flexi-place work (working from a location other than the work place). The scheme enables management of employer and employee expectations in the area of high performance sports.
Adecco, Charles & Keith, KPMG, MOH Holdings, MSIG Insurance, Resorts World Sentosa and StarHub are part of this landmark career scheme.
Bowler Jasmine Yeong-Nathan first joined KPMG’s Programme for Elite Athletes in KPMG (PEAK) in 2009. She has worked part-time in the Marketing Communications team and subsequently as an intern with the Corporate Finance unit while competing. Jasmine is now working full-time in the firm’s Advisory practice.
KPMG supported Jasmine with a flexi-work schedule allowing her to leave work earlier for her daily training sessions, full-pay competition and training leave, and sponsorship for her tournament in Korea during her time of internship.
The Spex Education Scheme provides student-athletes with the flexibility to pursue their chosen sports while maintaining a certain academic rigor. The Institutes of Higher Leanring (IHLs) will recognise the sporting achievements of student-athletes for admission.
Six IHLs have come onboard as Education partners. The IHLs are Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), Republic Polytechnic (RP), Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East, ITE College Central and ITE College West.
“When you get this kind of support from your school, we can put in 100% for both sports and academics instead of compromising on one. Our time can now be fully devoted to train and rest as well as study; do assignments and attend school,” said National canoeist Suzanne Seah who is currently an undergraduate at NTU.
Both schemes are extended to all carded national athletes and are managed by the Athlete Services Department of the Singapore Sports Institute.
“Our young athletes and their parents are sometimes in a position where they have to make a choice between pursuing sporting and educational aspirations. It should not be an either-or situation. Our athletes have been able to benefit from the best of both worlds,” said Mr Lim Teck Yin, Chief Executive Officer, SSC.
“Our IHL partners today have shown that flexible arrangements can be made to give athletes complete support to achieve in their sporting and educational fronts. I hope to see one day that all our IHLs in Singapore will come onboard to support our athletes.”
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