Contributed by Tanty Nazlianah

Singapore, May 14, 2010 – The National Sports Associations (NSAs) of the sports that will be featured at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be receiving a monetary boost this week as they enter their final phase of preparations for the Games.

The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is set to release the third tranche of funding from the S$6.2 million pool set aside by the Singapore Youth Sports Development (SYSD) Committee to help NSAs gear up for the YOG. The funding comes from the S$15 million purse announced by the committee in April 2009 to support youth sports initiatives in Singapore.

Each NSA can expect about S$20,000 to S$100,000 from the third tranche of funding, which will be released today. To date, S$5.03 million has been disbursed to the NSAs in three tranches.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and Ministry of Transport, Mr Teo Ser Luck, who is the co-chairman of the SYSD Committee said, “The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games is a catalyst in instituting sports development pathways for our young athletes. The release of the third tranche of funding will give a timely boost to our YOG NSAs and athletes as they enter their final preparation phase, to do Singapore proud as we make history on home ground come August.”

Formed in September 2008 by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the Ministry of Education (MOE), the SYSD Committee comprises members from MCYS, MOE, Singapore National Olympic Council, SSC, Singapore Sports School, and NSAs. It seeks to align stakeholders to strengthen the youth sports system, create a long term athlete development pipeline, and perform well at the YOG.