SINGAPORE SHOOTING ASSOCIATION UNVEILS NEW 10-POINT PLAN IN A REVAMP OF THE SPORT

Singapore, 4 December 2002

The formation of a professional management garnering greater public interest in shooting in Singapore and the creation of more comprehensive development programmes for athletes and coaches.

The above initiatives are imminent, following an announcement by the Singapore Shooting Association (SSA) as integral to its total make-over of the image of shooting as a dull and niche sport. SSA's new strategic direction and sport development plans were unveiled at a press conference today.

SSA president, Mr Tan Boon Huat, revealed that the plan, which was a product of having gone through the Strategic Planning Workshop by the Singapore Sports Council, "revolves around four key areas". These are summarised as: Professional Management, Broadening the base of Shooting Enthusiasts, Sport Industry and Sports Excellence.

To encourage more Singaporeans to take up this 'niche sport', the SSA will be introducing more fun and social shooting events. For starters, the SSA will organise a Fun Shoot Day at the Singapore Sports Festival where everyone can try their hand at the sport. The SSA recognises that since shooting has little spectator interest, it needs to be creative and to inject a fun element in order to broaden its appeal. With this in mind, it plans to establish more affiliations with more clubs, where a funding base can ultimately be built.

To complement its sports for all plans, the association is looking to increase the quality and accessibility of its facilities and to hold more basic introductory shooting courses to popularise the sport.

One other obstacle to popularising the sport is cost. Addressing this, Mr Tan said, "Shooting may not be a 'cheap' sport, but it is not prohibitively expensive''. Enthusiasts can be sure that the SSA will be doing its part to help them pursue their interest in shooting.

The SSA also announced its new emphasis on talent-spotting and nurturing as part of their pursuit of sporting excellence.

To these ends, the plan offers a twin strategy: Wooing resource-rich private clubs; at the same time, ensuring youth development through interesting programmes like the Schools Air Weapons Programme. By appealing to private clubs and schools, the sport can widen its base of recreational shooters. Youth development provides the base for talent scouting and cultivates interest from the masses.

Mr Tan expressed that SSA now faces a challenge with regard to the ready pool of shooters in the schools air rifle events. The association recognises that it needs to motivate and sustain the interest of young talents so that they will continue with the sport after they leave school. Only with a wiser base of budding shooters will SSA be able to channel some of the talent to other ISSF shooting disciplines. Those who do not have what it takes to make the national trap or skeet teams will, hopefully, continue to support and promote the sport. The SSA also plans to keep its shooters sharp with more stringent monthly tests and quarterly inter-club competitions.

More comprehensive athlete and coaching development programmes are also being devised to ensure that national shooters and coaches will have the technical, and all-round skills and knowledge to take them to new heights on the international stage.

For more effective implementation of the plan, the SSA now has a new professional management team made up of full-time staff, said Mr Tan. Introducing Mr Kelvin Chen as the SSA's new general manager, he said the SSA has hired full-time professionals to manage its operations, marketing, accounts and administration.

"Gone are the days when an NSA can be run solely by volunteers,'' said Mr Tan."With more money being pumped into Singapore sport these days, it is also clear that there is a greater need for NSAs to be more accountable to the public."

"It is therefore imperative for us to set up a full-time professional team in the SSA to ensure the proper and efficient management of public funds and the growth of shooting here.''

Commenting on the SSA's strategic plan, SSC Acting Director of Sports Management, Mr Steve Arnaudon said: "I am impressed with the will and determination that the SSA has shown in its efforts to become a professional, well-managed and effective national sports body.

"Their officials showed a great willingness to revamp and restructure the sport for the better and I think shooting has taken a positive step forward today. The SSC certainly looks forward to continuing to work with the SSA in the months ahead.''