Boost for Singapore Coaching Community with Launch of CoachSG

Boost for Singapore Coaching Community with Launch of CoachSG

CoachSG, a Vision 2030 Masterplan recommendation to enhance and support the development of professional capabilities and standards in coaching, was officially launched this morning at the inaugural CoachSG Conference.

1. Mr Baey Yam Keng, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), was the Guest-of-Honour at the launch and he said, “Coaches play a key role in every sport. Not only do they teach us the skills of the game, they also impart important values such as resilience, discipline and teamwork which are applicable both in sports and in life. Through CoachSG, we will enhance the capabilities of our coaches, and raise the profile of the profession. This will bring us closer to our shared vision of Singapore as a vibrant sporting nation.”

2. Over the past five months, nine engagement sessions with coaches were conducted to listen to their ideas and feedback on the support they needed. Close to 200 coaches attended the sessions that were co-facilitated by CoachSG and the Sports Coaches Association of Singapore (SCA).

3. Key takeaways from the engagement sessions include calls for sport coach training to be more relevant and accessible; for greater recognition of the value of sport coaches; and better financial and other support to help coaches develop in their profession.

4. Among the new initiatives that coaches can immediately look forward to are the introduction of new Continuing Coach Education offerings, a review of the current formal education curriculum and the launch of a Coach Developer Programme.

5. To build upon the collaborative efforts that have resulted in CoachSG programmes, ongoing formal engagements with coaches, key employers and respective Sporting Organisations, including National Sports Associations (NSAs) will be stepped up. e2i Joins as Key Partner of CoachSG

6. NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) was unveiled as a key partner of CoachSG. An initiative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), they will be working closely with Sport Singapore to support the training programmes under the CoachSG framework.

7. Besides being the supporting partner for the CoachSG Conference 2017, e2i’s partnership with CoachSG will enable local coaches to enjoy 50% off course fees for coaching programmes in the coming year.

8. Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO of e2i said, “e2i is excited to partner CoachSG to support our local sport coaches to help them develop capabilities and skills throughout their coaching career. Through this collaboration, we hope to enable these sports practitioners to have easy access to professional training programmes, be equipped with updated knowledge, skill sets and competencies, and in turn uplift the industry's standards and professionalism." What Coaches can look forward to in the coming year through CoachSG

9. An enhanced suite of Continuing Coach Education activities will be available to coaches to enhance their knowledge and hone their skills. To help coaches get better at teaching values and lifeskills through sport, CoachSG will run workshops to introduce the Game-For-Life (GFL) framework.

10. In addition, CoachSG will run workshops to help coaches improve their pedagogy, instructional skills and applied sport psychology. CoachSG will also award Continuing Coach Education (CCE) hours for a wide range of courses available under the SkillsFuture Course Directory that coaches have found to be relevant. Moving forward, CoachSG will also work with respective Sporting Organisations including NSAs to provide more sport-specific CCE programmes for coaches to upgrade their skills and knowledge in their sports.

11. A Coach Developer Programme will also be launched later this year to train instructors and master coaches who are involved in training other coaches. This train-the-trainer approach aims to improve the quality of instruction our coaches receive and the effectiveness of our SG-Coach and CCE programmes. CoachSG is in discussion with the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) to adapt the ICCE international coach development framework and curriculum for our programme.

12. CoachSG is also working with industry partners to help coaches address some of their business administration and reach. One such partner is CoachEZ – a new mobile application to connect coaches with sport enthusiasts and learners. The app helps coaches to reach out to more people, manage coaching schedules and receive payment through the platform. Clients will be able to find sports and schedules that fit their needs and review coach ratings before they sign up. As part of the upcoming launch of the app, CoachEZ will recognise coaches in the National Registry of Coaches (NROC) with a crest on their profile, and offer complimentary and pre-approved registration for NROC members.

13. To recognise the performance of coaches in high performance sport, coaches of all medal-winning athletes at Major Games will receive certificates of accomplishment from CoachSG starting from the 29th SEA Games and 9th ASEAN Para Games. More details will be revealed in the coming months.

14. Troy Engle, Director of CoachSG, said, “We believe that coaches make a big difference in building not just sport skills but also life skills and we want all Singaporeans to have access to good coaching. CoachSG and Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) will continue to work with coaches through the SCA as well as our partners in coach education, including Republic Polytechnic and National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI), to update the curriculum and make it more relevant and useful for our coaches. We will also work closely with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to ensure that coaches in schools are certified and able to provide a safe and inspiring environment to build physical literacy and life skills in partnership with the school.”