Second batch of 18 national athletes awarded Sports Excellence Scholarships

Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong, with spexScholars and their parents and friends. 18 new spexScholarship awards were presented to athletes with stellar performances in their respective sports throughout the past year and who have been deemed to have potential to medal at the Asian, World, and Olympic levels. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Black Box Auditorium, Singapore Sports Hub, Tuesday, December 2, 2014 — A second batch of 18 Team Singapore athletes were awarded Sports Excellence Scholarships (spexScholarships) last evening, bringing the total number of spexScholars to 71*.

Nadine Joy Nathan, who made the artistic gymnastics individual all-around finals at the 2nd Youth Olympics Games in Nanjing, China, in August this year, was one of them.

Accompanied by her parents, Alfred and Patricia Nathan, the 14-year-old struggled for words when asked how she felt about joining the likes of Joseph Schooling (swimming), Jazreel Tan (bowling), and Feng Tianwei (table tennis), who were from the inaugural batch of athletes awarded spexScholarships in 2013 and who have each medalled at one or more of the following major Games: Olympics, Commonwealth, Asian.

Her mother, Patricia, readily offered some help. “She hasn’t thought about it, I think. I didn’t tell her until today. It was supposed to be confidential so I didn’t tell her at all,” said the Raffles Institution teacher, who had been informed of the award through Sport Singapore.

When Patricia was asked how her daughter had responded upon receiving the news, Nadine felt assured enough to chip in with an answer, a chirpy “Okay!”

Patricia then added that the Raffles Girls’ School student, who is currently recovering from a fractured right ankle resulting from a botched landing in training from the uneven bars, had also rattled off some questions, “What time? What do I have to wear? How am I going up on stage with my crutches?”

While injured, she can look towards accessing the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI)’s full array of sports science and sports medicine to aid her recovery. Nadine said, “I think it (the spexScholarship) will help me understand the sport and with my recovery period.”

The spexScholarship will also provide her and other scholars with financial support (a monthly stipend that will cover coaching, training, competition and equipment), educational support, career preparation (for adult athletes), and programmes to develop personal and life skills such as time management, communication, and financial planning.

Launched in 2013 as a scheme under the High Performance Sports (HPS) system, the spexScholarship provides support to Singaporean athletes with the potential to medal at Asian, World and Olympic levels.

The spexScholars are assessed for their training commitment, sports performance, attitude and behaviour, and performance in laboratory tests. SSI received 160 nominations from 21 sports, but only 41 athletes from 14 sports were shortlisted for interviews this year before the HPS Selection and Performance Sub-Committee and the HPS Steering Committee reviewed the shortlisted candidates and confirmed the final list of spexScholars.

Mr Lawrence Wong said in a speech at the awards presentation ceremony, “It’s about providing support for our top athletes. And the support comes not just in terms of funding, but it also comes by way of sports science, sports medicine and, importantly, we are also looking at providing our athletes with the matching of jobs after their athletic career so they can be assured of getting a job after they have retired from sports. So, it’s a whole system of support and it’s meant to make the pursuit of sport a more attractive and viable option for our athletes.”

Nadine’s father, Alfred, was encouraged to see Nadine get such support at a tender age. The former head of department for physical education (now head of discipline and curriculum specialist in outdoor education) at St. Joseph’s Institution, said, “I’m quite happy that she got this scholarship. I’ve been doing sports for very long in Singapore and I think it is taking a step in the right direction. They are encouraging students to do well at school not only in their studies but also in other fields like sports and the arts.”

*There were 61 athletes from the first batch of spexScholars awarded in 2013. Six of the 14 spexScholars who were scheduled to complete their one-year scholarships at the end of this year will have their scholarships renewed. The 18 new spexScholars will bring the total number to 71, which consist of 13 level one (top eight at Olympic Games or World Championships) athletes, 25 level two (top six at Asian Games or top three at Commonwealth Games) athletes, 26 level three (top four at the last SEA Games) athletes, and 7 level four (top three at a national open championships for individual sports or medallist at regional championships with at least six participating countries for team sports) athletes.

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2014 spexScholars

Badminton
1. Yeo Jia Min

Bowling
2. Joey Yeo Ruoqi

Canoeing
3. Lucas Teo Guang Yi
4. Mervyn Toh Yingjie
5. Muhammad Syaheenul Aiman Bin Nasiman
6. Brandon Ooi Wei Cheng

Cycling
7. Dinah Chan Siew Kheng

Disability Sports
8. Tay Wei Ming (Badminton)
9. Theresa Goh (Swimming)
10. Yip Pin Xiu (Swimming)

Gymnastics
11. Nadine Joy Nathan

Sailing
12. Cecilia Low
13. Sara Tan
14. Griselda Khng

Swimming
15. Rachel Marjorie Tseng Wei Wen
16. Nur Marina Chan Shin Min Alif Abdullah

Table Tennis
17. Isabelle Li Si Yun
18. Lin Ye

2013 spexScholars

Badminton
1. Danny Bawa Chrisnanta
2. Vanessa Neo Yu Yan
3. Liang Xiaoyu

Bowling
4. Jazreel Tan Shi Hua
5. Shayna Ng Lin Zhi
6. Cherie Tan Shi Hua
7. Daphne Tan Shi Jing
8. Bernice Lim Hui Ying
9. Muhammad Jaris Goh Bin Ali Akbar Goh
10. New Hui Fen

Canoeing
11. Geraldine Lee Wei Ling
12. Suzanne Seah
13. Sarah Chen Jiemei
14. Stephenie Chen Jiexian
15. Annabelle Ng Xiang Ru

Cuesports
16. Peter Edward Gilchrist

Disability Sports
17. Laurentia Tan Yen-Yi
18. Nurulasyiqah Binte Mohammad Taha
19. Mohamed Ismail Bin Hussain
20. Maximillian Tan Chern
21. Gemma Rose Foo Jen
22. Thomas Yong Phen Chong
23. Toh Sze Ning

Fencing
24. Ann Lee Huimin
25. Cheryl Wong Ye Han
26. Joshua Lim Ian
27. Lim Wei Wen
28. Willie Khoo Zile (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
29. Liane Wong Ye Ying (scholarship renewed)

Golf
30. Jonathan Woo Ke-Jun

Gymnastics
31. Joey Tam Jing Ying (scholarship renewed but declined due to athlete’s retirement from sport)
32. Nicolette Lim Shu Min (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
33. Charmaine Yeo Yan (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
34. Zeng Qiyan (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
35. Ashly Lau Wei-Ning (scholarship renewed)
36. Janessa Dai Min Yi (scholarship renewed)
37. Michelle Teo Yin Zhi (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)

Sailing
38. Colin Cheng Xinru
39. Elizabeth Yin Yueling
40. Scott Glen Sydney
41. Kimberly Lim Min (scholarship renewed)
42. Savannah Siew Kiah Hui (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
43. Ryan Lo Jun Han (scholarship renewed)

Shooting
44. Jasmine Ser
45. Lim Yee Xien (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
46. Yang Shuet Hwei (scholarship renewed)

Silat
47. Muhammad Shakir Bin Juanda
48. Muhammad Iqbal Bin Abdul Rahman
49. Muhammad Nur Alfian Bin Juma’en

Swimming
50. Joseph Schooling
51. Tao Li
52. Amanda Lim Xiang Qi
53. Danny Yeo Kai Quan
54. Samantha Louisa Yeo Ginn

Table Tennis
55. Feng Tian Wei
56. Yu Meng Yu
57. Gao Ning
58. Yang Zi
59. Zhan Jian
60. Li Hu

Waterski
61. Sasha Siew Hoon Christian

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