"For those who have the ability to excel in sports, to represent Singapore at higher levels, we want to build a pipeline for them to ensure that their aspirations can be met," said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.

This came shortly after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong spoke about strengthening Singapore's sporting culture in the 2024 National Day Rally.

On Aug. 20, Tong sat down with Mothership to talk more about how we can support our athletes both on and off the field.

The Kallang Alive masterplan

Tong revealed what was in the works for Kallang Alive, a masterplan first launched in 2019, which aims to transform Kallang into the ultimate sporting and entertainment destination.

Tong said the goal here is to help bring athletes closer to achieving their dreams by gathering all of the best sporting facilities in one space.

Such facilities include sports science and sports medicine facilities, National Sports Associations (NSAs), and the Singapore Sports School, which is set to move from Woodlands to Kallang.

Tong said the convenience of being close to sporting facilities is a "no brainer" as sports school students would be able to train, study, and rest all in the same place.

Resetting mindsets

Tong emphasised that sports shouldn't be limited to "high-performing athletes".

Instead, he said everyone should strive to develop an "active, healthy" lifestyle, which can be done by participating in community sports.

Thus, the government is focused on building a network of sporting facilities in the heartlands and creating sports programmes for various groups of Singaporeans.

Tong added that Ministry of Education (MOE) schools will provide "broad-based" sports programmes for youths to develop their talents.

More people participating in sports would lead to a growing pool of active athletes, which would offer more high performers to nurture.

Tong hopes these people can view sports as a viable career path.

"It should be sport as a complement to what they do and not just as an alternative," he said.

"How do we ensure that we build a pipeline that allows them to choose the two options between sport and academics more seamlessly, and not see this as a trade-off?"

He explored options like providing more flexible work and training schedules for athletes juggling full-time jobs.

Beyond this, athletes need to "tune themselves into a very different mode of training and see themselves as athletes professionally".

Charting a long-term plan for athletes

While it is important to pave the runway leading up to an athlete's dream, Tong addressed another pressing issue: What comes after?

Tong pointed to the government's Sports Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship), which supports athletes throughout different life stages.

The new spexEducation scholarship consists of a “Dual-Career” track for athletes concurrently pursuing their studies while training and competing and a “New-Career” track for those who choose to embark on their studies after retirement.

From April 2025 onwards, spexScholars will also benefit from monthly top-ups to their CPF accounts.

Tong hopes these experienced athletes will choose an area of study related to sports.

 "Many of our top athletes have tremendous experience, and there's a lot more that they can do — giving back to other athletes, paying it forward, and supporting and helping other athletes that come through the same path as them."

Top image via Eugene Lim/Unsplash