SSA sets up new SGP fund
Athletes, coaches and officials under the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) will have a new fund to tap on for developmental purposes, the national sports association (NSA) announced yesterday.
Tentatively named the SGP fund, it amounts to about $700,000 - it consists of about $500,000 raised from its inaugural golf fund-raising event last month and Olympic champion Joseph Schooling's $200,000 contribution.
The input from Schooling stems from the mandatory 20 per cent donation to the SSA from his Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP) prize money of $1 million for winning the Olympic gold, and the family has requested that their contribution be put into youth development.
The aim is to hold annual fund-raisers, as well as to reach out to individual donors, to maintain the fund.
INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE
Schooling's parents, Colin and May, presented SSA president Lee Kok Choy with the cheque yesterday at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, with Lee saying that the SSA will not directly manage the fund.
He said: "We will form an independent committee, which will include our SSA treasurer and secretary general, to ensure that funds are utilised most fruitfully to the benefit of the sport."
Lee added that future MAP contributions from athletes will go into this fund.
With recommendations from the association's technical staff across all its disciplines, the fund can be applied widely, from a wider variety of competitions for athletes, to learning opportunities for young coaches.
On a trip back from the US last month, Schooling called for more support for talented young athletes here.
His mother May said yesterday: "We have gone beyond just representation (at the international level), so there is a greater need for more support for our athletes.
"We are taking the first step now and hope to show to NSAs that it can be done."
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