Supporting our athletes throughout their sporting journeys

Response to parliamentary question on support for Team Singapore athletes who are about to retire from competitive sports

Question

Ms Yip Pin Xiu: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Ministry will consider providing more support to athletes who are about to retire from sports as the transition out of high performance sports is difficult in many ways; and (b) what more can be done for these athletes, both mentally and professionally, to ease their transition from their careers as sportsmen to the workforce.

Response

1. Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth: We support our athletes on their journey of high performance sport, extending beyond their competitive stage in life into their retirement from competitive sports. To do so effectively, the Government partners other stakeholders in the sports eco-system. TheSingapore Sport Institute (SSI) works with corporate partners under the spexBusiness Network to offer professional development opportunities, such asinternships, apprenticeships, part-time and permanent positions with flexible work arrangements, as well as mentorship and advice on starting a business, to prepare our athletes for a post-sports career. The Network also organises career-readiness workshops and networking opportunities with corporate partners. Athletes who need career advice and support on other well-being issues can also approach SSI, which oversees athlete life management matters.
2. Many corporates have stepped forward to support our athletes, and we hope to see more doing so. The spexBusiness Network currently comprises 60 companies across more than 25 industries to provide a wide array of career opportunities to our Team Singapore athletes. Since 2013, 230 former and current Team Singapore athletes have benefitted from the spexBusiness, including (i) former shuttler Derek Wong who took on a full-time position at Deloitte, (iii) former sprinter Calvin Kang who started a sports-related business, and (iii) para-swimmer Sophie Soon who is now on a flexi-work arrangement with Toyota Asia, following her internship at Sport Singapore.
3.  Some of our National Sports Associations (NSA) have also instituted programmes of their own, such as the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) which has bursaries and arrangements with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) to support their athletes to transition to a post-sport career. I would like to encourage more NSAs to support their athletes in this regard.
4. The Government’s sustained investment in sports over the past years has led to a more developed and vibrant local sports ecosystem. This has in turn provided more prospects for retired athletes to pursue a career in sports that they are passionate about. Many former national athletes have successfully made the transition to coaching, including in our ActiveSG sports academies, and they continue to contribute to the development of a Sporting Singapore by mentoring the next generation of athletes.