The Profile of Coaching and Coach Education in Singapore: Past, Present and Future
in International Sport Coaching JournalClick name to view affiliation
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The demand for certified sports coaches in Singapore is high, especially from the schools and private sectors. This trend is in line with the significant global growth of the vocation of sports coaching (Taylor & Garratt, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to provide an informal review of the state of coaching and coach education in Singapore, by addressing three main themes: (1) provide an overview of the evolution of the Singaporean coaching system since the late 1990s, (2) describe examples of identified ground up initiatives from various stakeholders within the coaching ecosystem and (3) draw conclusions from existing literature and provide suggestions on how coach education systems can be further developed. The foundation of the current coaching system was established in the late 1990s with the introduction of the National Coaching Accreditation Program (NCAP) and it is still the benchmark for the coaching practice in Singapore today. The basic NCAP is broken down to a theory and technical component which is administered by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and the National Sports Associations (NSAs) respectively. The SSC had embarked on various initiatives over the years to ensure that more Singaporeans have access to quality coaching.
Koh is with Nanyang Technological University, National Institute of Education, Physical Education & Sports Science, Singapore. Foo is with Sport Singapore (formerly known as Singapore Sports Council), National Sports Association Partnership, Singapore. Sakamoto and Low are with Sport Singapore, Singapore Sports Institute, Singapore. Address author correspondence to Koon Teck Koh at koonteck.koh@nie.edu.sg.
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