Singapore Sports Council, Monday, April 6, 2009 – For the first time, the Singapore Sports Council will turn its attention to children 18 months to six years of age to help give them confidence to play sports throughout their lives.

“Early childhood is when children begin developing the agility, balance, coordination and spatial skills and confidence to cope with physical challenges,” said Alex Chan, chairman of the SSC. “Children can learn these skills faster and easier when they are young. The later children develop their motor skills, the less likely they are to develop physical literacy and the degree of confidence to play sports.”

Given Singapore’s small talent population size, it only makes sense to help develop that talent pool to its fullest, said Alex Chan.

“While the Fundamental Skills programme is not specifically meant to develop elite athletes for the next generation, it will help us to preserve the already limited pool of young talents from which we may find the next sports champion. Currently, we have about 194,000 children* under the age of 4 and we would like to see them all get a solid start in sports.”

Pre-school teacher Sherlyn Lee from Little Hands, a local pre-school, says “fundamental skills are one of the key building blocks for successful whole-child development. Children learn through movement but first they have to learn how to move. These skills are as fundamental to learning sports as the ABCs are to learning in school.”

The SSC will work with private service providers to develop the Fundamental Skills Programme.

*Source: Based on Singapore's resident population, comprising Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Department of Statistics data from June 2008, published March 2009