Story by Dawn Yip
The inaugural Singapore Sports Conference was held at Republic Polytechnic on 8 and 9 March 2008. Drawing about 200 participants including students, teachers, sports administrators and industry players, the conference covered the full spectrum of the sports sector, and showcased an industry on the path to maturity.
“The themes, the concept, are good. They relate to what people need to know about the sports industry,” said Eileen Chai, a teacher at CHIJ St Theresa's Convent and former national diver, gymnast and hurdler. Eileen was also a workshop speaker on the topic of balancing sports and studies, and achieving excellence.
The highlight of the conference were two keynote lectures by eminent sports experts. Robert Malina, Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, has spent over four decades studying youth and children in sports, and gave a big-picture overview of trends and issues in youth sports.
His key message: that Singapore should focus programmes and resources on the majority. "We tend to worry more about the talented few than the vast majority of youngsters," said Prof Malina. "The talented few tend to get the headlines and all the attention. But we need to focus on the rest, given the trends in global obesity and childhood health."
This message was reinforced by the second keynote speaker, Teemu Japisson, Secretary-General of the Young Finland Association, a non-government organisation dedicated to promoting sports participation and culture among youth.
He reminded the audience that "if you don't exercise as a child, you don't exercise as an adult." Finland has managed to increase the number of children participating in sports by an impressive 50%, as a result of novel and sometimes controversial measures. One of these was the introduction of a new paradigm among sports clubs that "no matter how clumsy you are, you have the right to play," said Japisson. In the past, matches would be played by the most talented boys and girls, but sports clubs were now obliged to be more inclusive, leading to some very upset coaches. "Our assumption," explained Japisson, "is that at age 8, it is not possible to tell who is going to be most talented at age 20. Sports clubs should be like a birthday party – it's not fair if some play and others don't."
The rest of the conference comprised a wide range of workshops, practical sessions, dialogues, and an exhibition.
[…] Texas Austin’s Dept of Kinesiology and Health Education, and a keynote speaker at the inaugural Singapore Sports Conference organised by the Singapore Sports Council and Republic […]