Children learning to play netball at one of the stations. (Photo courtesy of Lee Quanlong)
Republic Polytechnic, Monday, August 20, 2012 — 200 children from 93 homeschooling families came together to take part in a Sports Day focused on five sports — fencing shooting, netball, hockey, and cycling.
The five sports were organised into stations at Republic Polytechnic’s competition hall and outdoor basketball courts.
On the activities, Michele Wee said: “Our whole family had a wonderful time; my son tried everything and loved every minute. We liked that there were many different activities and the volunteers were friendly and patient with the kids.
“Even though there were lots of kids, the waiting time was short for each activity. The organisers clearly put in a lot of hard work and love into organising Sports Day. We really appreciate that. (We) hope we can have another such event next year,” said Ms Wee.
The children were split, according to age, into groups named after retired athletes who had represented Singapore in the Olympics. Each of the six groups were led around the stations by some of the 50 volunteers who helped to run the event. The sports day officially kicked off at 10:30 am with 93 families participating.
“It was totally a joy and privilege to be part of this event. I am thrilled to see all my homeschooling juniors enjoying themselves and sharing my experience with the parents,” said Vera Lau, 19, a volunteer who was homeschooled before enrolling in Nanyang Technological University’s Sport Science and Management Programme.
“Sports has helped me to become a stronger and more confident person – I hope the same for all the homeschoolers,” added Ms Lau.
The event also featured the Olympic Trail, an education corner aimed at imparting knowledge about the Olympic Games to the children.
On hand at the event was Olympian Dipna Lim-Prasad, 21, who took part in the 100m hurdles at the recent 2012 London Olympics. She was on hand to answer questions and take photographs with the crowd.
“I feel that the homeschooling community has little awareness and this event sort of helped them,” said Dipna.
“Also, because the community is small, it’s good to get all the kids and parents together to mingle and they can make friends, network and create a support system of their own. This will help in the upbringing of their kids,” added Dipna.
Other athletes at the event were SEA Games 2011 athlete Nikita Sharda and former national fencer, Dennis Leong.
The Top Sport Group Homeschooling Sports Day 2012 was sponsored by SportivA.
“The past four months of putting the event together were well-spent,” said Tan Hui Ming, co-founder of Top Sport Group and the event director for the day. “We are really happy that the homeschooling community enjoyed it and look forward to staging it again next year.”
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