Singapore rides on rugby wave to launch new school rugby programme
Riding on the wave of rugby season in Singapore, ActiveSG launched a new rugby enrichment programme on Thursday (31 March) at East Spring Secondary School, collaborating with SportCares Foundation and the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU).
The pilot programme will involve 14 students from East Spring Secondary School participating in weekly rugby trainings by the SRU. With Japan’s Sunwolves playing their matches at the Singapore Sports Hub and the upcoming Singapore Rugby Sevens, SRU’s general manager George Danapal said he hopes these programmes will introduce rugby to the wider public.
“We’re trying to create a greater awareness of our sport… riding on the tailcoats of the (HSBC Rugby) sevens coming to town (and) trying to create a lot more buzz, awareness and getting kids interested in the sport,” Danapal told the media at East Spring Secondary School.
East Spring Secondary School students participating in a rugby drill on Thursday, 31 March, 2016 as part of the new rugby enrichment programme.
Danapal said he hopes to dispel the public’s misconceptions about rugby further as he pushes for the sport to be played more in schools.
“Hopefully, we can get it going in the PE program, they not necessarily have to play competitively, that’s not what we are about,” said Danapal.
“It’s getting more numbers, growing our base and… creating that awareness for rugby in Singapore.”
East Spring Secondary School students participating in a rugby drill on Thursday, 31 March, 2016 as part of the new rugby enrichment programme.
Going into his first month in the programme, Eugene Wong, who is also a member of the school’s journalism club, said he embraces the opportunity that the rugby programme has given him.
Being in the journalism club, the 15-year-old said he was previously not very active in sports.
“With rugby, I can get to run more and exercise,” said Wong, who has never played rugby previously.
“I feel that our school is giving us a great opportunity and we should… not take it for granted, so we train hard every training and give our 100 per cent.”
Sport Singapore CEO Lim Teck Yin participating in a rugby drill with East Spring Secondary school students on Thursday, 31 March, 2016 during the launch of the new rugby enrichment programme between SportCares and Singapore Rugby Union.
Values through sports
“What we want to do with this programme, it being the first rugby-based programme, is to learn the necessary lessons, get the impact study out and then be able to take this to other schools,” said Sport Singapore’s Chief Executive Officer Lim Teck Yin.
The programme conducted by the SRU uses rugby as a sport to teach life values such as teamwork, discipline and resilience.
“You fundamentally learn how to protect yourself, you learn how to tackle, how to roll and more importantly that falling on the ground and picking yourself up is just something that you do everyday,” said Lim.
“The success of the program would be manifest in parents beginning to say, ‘I want my children to play sports, I want my children to engage (in sports) because I believe it’s part of the education, I believe it’s part of their development’,” he added.
