Inaugural Coaches Day Launched at CRA2007 Ceremony

Inaugural Coaches' Day Launched At Coach Recognition Awards 2007 Ceremony

Come Friday, 14 September 2007, Singapore will celebrate its first ever Coaches' Day. This was announced by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth & Sports, this evening at the Singapore Sports Council (SSC)'s Coach Recognition Awards (CRA) 2007 Ceremony held at The Legends, Fort Canning Park. The CRA, currently in its sixth year, also saw 41 outstanding coaches applauded for their significant contributions towards the development of their athletes and Singapore sports.

Mr Teo said: "While I am heartened to note that our coaches are exemplary role models for our athletes, I hope to see more Singaporeans rally around our coaches and show their appreciation for them in their own way. Towards this end, I am pleased to announce the Singapore Sports Council's new initiative to set aside one day each year just for coaches."

Coaches' Day is also supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). It will be held on the second Friday of September each year, and Singaporeans are urged to join in the inaugural celebrations this coming Friday to make it a truly memorable occasion for their coaches. "We hope to send out a very strong message to all coaches in Singapore: that you are important to our Sporting Singapore vision, and we value your contributions," added Mr Teo.

Mr Andrew Chew, Deputy Director of Co-Curricular Activities Branch, MOE, and Dr Yim-Tien Hua, Director of Community & Professional Services, WDA, were present to lend their support to the launch of Coaches' Day.

This year, the awards also drew a record number of 307 nominations for a total of 146 coaches. Among the awardees, National Sailing Coach Andreas Sigmond and National Bowling Coaches Henry Tan, Mervyn Foo and William Woo dominated the High Performance Coaching Award (Senior Competitions) category with their athletes' excellent showing at the Doha 2006 Asian Games last December. Other national coaches including Bobok Viacheslav from fencing, Chan See Huey from athletics, Jin Xiao Li from lifesaving, and Dancesport veterans Shawn Tay and Gladys Tay took either the Talent Development Coaching Award or the High Performance Coaching Award (Junior Competitions) for their athletes' excellent achievements at various regional and international competitions, among others.

Among the 30 awardees of the Development Coaching Awards (Schools) and Development Coaching Awards (Clubs & NSAs), many are familiar faces to the CRA and have kept their edge in their coaching standards. Mr Teo emphasised the importance of continuous upgrading by our coaches, saying: "Just as they challenge their athletes in pursuing sporting excellence, coaches themselves must lead by example and be committed towards continuous education and coaching excellence."

Beyond the CRA, the SSC had also earlier begun its 'My Coach. My Hero' campaign to encourage the public to express their appreciation to their coaches in their own personal way. Among these are two designs of the special 'My Coach. My Hero ZoCards available islandwide for the public to pen their heartwarming 'thank you' messages for their coaches. Beginning today, the public can also SMS their personalised dedications and have an opportunity for these to be read out live on radio leading up to Coaches' Day.

SSC's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oon Jin Teik commented: "The CRA has indeed been successful in helping to educate the public on the importance of coaches in the development of our athletes. For Coaches' Day, we want to encourage the public to take an extra step forward in doing something special for their coaches."

Enclosures
Welcome Address by Mr Alex Chan, Chairman of Singapore Sports Council
Speech by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
Annex 1: CRA2007 winners
Annex 2: Factsheet on CRA
Annex 3: 'My Coach. My Hero' campaign