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Caroline de
Guzman Public
Relations Manager Singapore
Recreation Club DID: 6430 7572 Mobile: 9824
1804 Email: caroline.pr@src.org.sg |
Gavin Gan Marketing
& Promotions Executive Singapore
Recreation Club DID: 6430 7513 Email: gavin.sports@src.org.sg |
SRC
Launches Joint Polytechnic Development Scheme For Athletes
National players stand to profit
from developing with fellow players at SRC
SINGAPORE, 16 January
2004 – Singapore
Recreation Club (SRC) today launched a new talent development scheme for
athletes studying polytechnics. The scheme, which is open to national and
national youth players only, has been launched initially with Singapore
Polytechnic (SP).
SRC Games Control Board
Chairman, Mr John Tan said “this new scheme greatly complements our existing
youth and national player development programme. With 120 years of sporting
history behind us, we are confident that the polytechnic students, who become
sporting members of the club, will benefit from our training infrastructure,
the magnificent Padang and the facilities of a top social club.”
Through this, the Padang-based club hopes to help develop a
new pool of national players in any of the 12 sports currently played at SRC.
These include baseball and softball, billiards and snooker, bowling, cricket,
darts, golf, men’s and ladies’ hockey, netball, rugby, soccer (social and NFL)
and tennis. Beneficiaries will be joining 65 national players who currently
hold sporting memberships at SRC.
Commented Mr Tan Chin Chye, Deputy
Director, Department of Student & Alumni Affairs, SP, “the new scheme is
timely with the renewed interest in sports. Some of our national players who
are also SP students currently play with fellow students only. The joint
polytechnic scheme with SRC will allow them to compete with other national
players at SRC and improve their skills.”
Mr John Tan explained the
mechanics behind qualification.
“As only national and national youth players qualify for the scheme, beneficiaries will be selected by SP and go through a trial at SRC’s Padang grounds. Our experienced sports convenors and coaches will make a decision on accepting the student as a sporting member.”
An Early Beneficiary
Mr Amos Tham Yen Meng, a 19-year
old 1st year mechatronics student from SP is
one of the earliest students to benefit from the new scheme. He plays hockey and
started playing with national players who are already sporting members of SRC
last July.
“Playing and training with
them on a weekly basis certainly would bring my game to a new level, as I will
be with some of the best players in Singapore,” he quipped.
$12,000 Boost for SRC’s SEA Games Athletes
In recognition of the effort
by Team Singapore at the 22nd SEA Games in Vietnam, SRC is also
rewarding Singapore’s snooker doubles gold medallist, Mr Keith E with $10,000.
Mr E has been a member of SRC since 1997. Another $2,000 has been awarded to
3-ball billiards doubles bronze medallist, Mr Glenn Yeo, also a member of the
club. Incidentally, Mr E is one of Yeo’s coaches.
This is not the first time
that the club has awarded athletes who have done exceptionally well at an
international level. The club has given monetary incentives to athletes who
competed in the previous SEA Games, including those in Singapore, Chiangmai and
Jakarta.
SRC President Dr Johnny Goh
said, “in 1993, we decided to invest in 3 core sports for the club – billiards,
hockey and softball. Ten years later, we have seen it pay off, with athletes
doing consistently well at a local as well as international level. We hope that
today’s monetary rewards will spur them to develop further and motivate them to
pursue a career in the field of billiards and snooker.”