Wednesday, January 14, 2009
2:30 PM
Big Plans are Afoot to Develop Singapore's Table Tennis, Especially among the Young
Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) receive over $1 million of donations at the inaugural fund-raising dinner held at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on Monday.

The money was raised with the objectives of nurturing young talents and supporting retired national athletes through a scholarship fund. After surpassing the initial target of $500,000. The Lee Foundation alone accounted for $500,000 of the donations.

President of STTA Lee Beh Wah hoped to expedite her plans to develop local youth talent.

Plans include a kindergarten programme by the STTA and the PAP Community Foundation to teach five- to six-year-olds the basics of the sport.

A pilot scheme is currently running at Nee Soon South PCF Kindergarten till March, and if successful could be extended to other interested PCF kindergartens.

There is also a tie-up between the STTA and the Singapore Sports School to raise standards of training and help integrate foreign-born talent into Singapore's national team.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: "You are not just training the kids to play table-tennis, but at the same time, they're in school and there's an academic curriculum, so they're prepared in a more rounded way for a long-term career and even after they retire from table-tennis."

Ms Lee added that for full-time athletes who have achieved glory for Singapore, they can choose to become coaches or go for further studies. That way, they can concentrate on their sporting careers with the assurance that they have other post-athletic options. The association would also offer scholarships to promising young athletes and help them develop career pathways.




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