SINGAPORE - The Republic’s top school athletes may have competed at the National Inter-School Track & Field Championships on Friday (April 29) to the roar of their schoolmates cheering them on from the stands at the National Stadium. But other students, who were not selected to represent their schools at the annual championships, can now look forward to other training and competitive opportunities of their own.

This will be made possible by the ActiveSG Athletics Club which was officially launched on Friday.

The Club, which aims to provide more sporting opportunities for all, is part of national sports body Sport Singapore’s efforts to encourage youths to lead a healthy, sporty lifestyle, participate in sports for as long as they want to, and help those who are interested in athletics to realise their fullest potential.

Helmed by veteran coaches Melvin Tan and Steven Quek, who have extensive experience coaching in schools, the club is targeted at kids, youths and young adults aged six to 24 years, and offers training programmes ranging from entry to competitive levels.

Registration to join the Club will begin next Friday, and the programmes for the year - an “Athletics for Kids” category for children aged 6-12, and an “Athletics for Youth” category (13 to 24 years) - will kick off on May 30.

Tan and Quek will also be supported by experts in fundamental movement skills, and there are plans to recruit experts in other fields.

The Club will conduct training sessions thrice a week at the Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Gombak and Woodlands Stadiums and the Kallang Practice Track. A developmental league could also be set up in future to provide regular competitive opportunities.

Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu said at Friday’s launch that the Club aims to promote basic athletics skills among the young, raise the level of coaching, and help schools that do not offer athletics as a co-curricular activity.

“Some schools may not have track and field facilities, nor offer athletics as a CCA, so we hope to… augment it, supplement the facilities as well as offer programmes for the students in the schools,” said Fu who also hopes to see the Club becoming another pipeline for local athletics talent.

Singapore Athletics (SA) president Tang Weng Fei said the Club will complement SA’s plans to “revitalise the local club scene which was so vibrant in the 1980s and 1990s.”

Last year, the championships was held for the first time since 2004, and Tang said this year’s competition will be held in October.

“The club scene has somewhat diminished, but there has been increased interest in the sport again since our achievements at last year’s SEA Games. The ActiveSG Athletics Club is another step towards revitalising that,” he said.