Embargoed until 15 April 2010, 4.00pm PRESS RELEASE 15 APRIL 2010 EMBARGOED TILL 15 APRIL 2010, THUR, 4.00PM SIX NEW JUNIOR SPORTS ACADEMIES TO DEVELOP YOUNG SPORTING TALENTS 1. Six new Junior Sports Academies (JSAs), with two new sports – artistic gymnastics and bowling – will provide budding primary school athletes in these sports with high quality development programmes. Resources are collectively harnessed at these academies to provide systematic training to realise the athletes’ potential. 2. Young athletes who are identified for the different sports will receive training at centralised sports academies. An estimated 170 more young athletes will be developed with the establishment of the six new JSAs, bringing the total number of athletes in the programme to 930. 3. The six new JSAs will be based in the following schools: No School Sports Start Date 1 Cedar Girls’ Secondary Track & Field February, 2010 School 2 Ai Tong School Table Tennis March, 2010 3 Rosyth School Badminton March, 2010 4 Singapore Sports School Bowling March, 2010 5 Hwa Chong Institution Artistic Gymnastics April, 2010 6 Victoria School Soccer July, 2010 4. The schools are selected based on their achievement track records in the particular sport, sporting culture and management support. More JSAs catering to a wider range of sports will be set up over the next few years. Background 5. The Ministry of Education announced the launch of its Talent Development Framework for Sports in December 2007 to systematically identify and provide development opportunities for talented athletes within the school Embargoed until 15 April 2010, 4.00pm system. The Framework will ensure that students talented in sports will be given appropriate provisions to realise their potential. 6. The Framework focuses on three key strategies; a. Development of talented athletes in primary schools through MOE Junior Sports Academies; b. Enhancement of the support of the Singapore Schools Sports Teams; and c. Enhancement of resources for schools’ talent development efforts.- 7. In 2008, MOE piloted seven Junior Sports Academies. In 2009, eight more JSAs were added. The list of JSAs and the sports offered is listed below. Year JSA Sports offered 2008 Chung Cheng High School (Main) Wushu Henry Park Primary School Badminton Singapore Sports School Table Tennis Swimming Track & Field Multi-Sport Singapore Table Tennis Association Table Tennis 2009 Anglican High School Badminton Anglo Chinese School (Primary) Swimming Catholic High School Wushu Yio Chu Kang Primary School Soccer Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School Shooting Nan Hua Primary School Table Tennis Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School Fencing Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Sec) Table Tennis Embargoed until 15 April 2010, 4.00pm JSA Student Athletes for Media Interview Artistic Gymnastics JSA @ Hwa Chong Institution Name of Student Zon Liew Zac Liew School Holy Innocents’ Primary School Name of Parent Mdm Jolene Tan (Mother) Parents’ Contact 91087881 Information of Student Zac and Zon are twin brothers who have been selected for JSA artistic gymnastics programme. Their parents enrolled them in an external gymnastics course because they wanted to expose the brothers to the sport. Despite being relatively new to Artistic Gymnastics, their talents were recognised and they were selected to represent their school for the Inter-Primary School Artistic Gymnastics Competition 2010. Bowling JSA @ Singapore Sports School Name of Student Iliya Syamim Binte Muhammad Azni School / JSA (Sports) Haig Girls’ School Name of Parent Mr Muhammad Azni Bin Sarbini Parent’s Contact 96271166 (Father) Information of Student IIiya is currently training with the bowling JSA at Singapore Sports School. She is a talented young bowler, having attained fourth position in the singles for the National Age Group bowling competition this year. She also came in third at the doubles event in the National Inter-Primary Schools Competition last year. IIiya’s father believes that the opportunity to train with top coaches and elite players from other schools will help her to do well in the sport. .