I am a parent of a student-athlete studying in the Singapore Sports School (SSP) and living in its boarding school (Twenty years on, is the Singapore Sports School a success?, April 29).

From the time my son, 15, joined SSP three years ago, I have been thankful for its holistic, nurturing and supportive environment.

When some friends knew my son had joined SSP, they thought, wrongly, that my son would get to skip the major national examinations and simply focus on sports, training and competitions.

SSP places a strong emphasis on academics. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the principal emphasising the importance and power of reading in his first address to parents and students when my son joined the school.

My son’s teachers communicate closely with me, and we discuss not just academic performance, but also inculcating good study habits and having the right attitudes and mindsets to balance sports and studies.

My son’s coaches provide an encouraging environment for him to blossom. Having been a competitive athlete myself, I can understand some aspects of the training programme. It is rigorous and competitive, yet coaches take care to avoid burnout and injuries, and create a healthy environment in which seniors look out for juniors and mentor them.

Although involved in competitive sports, the young student-athletes, instead of just competing, learn to collaborate with one another.

The boarding school also takes care of the nutritional details of every meal in school, and organises many fun programmes to let boarders have a cohesive time studying, training and growing in a home-away-from-home.

The SSP village gives its students an environment that does not berate or criticise them when they encounter setbacks in training or when they fail to meet their targets. It gives students the support they need to develop resilience and grit and work hard to achieve even greater heights for themselves, the school and the nation.

My son is doing his best to be the best version of himself with the love, support and encouragement of his teachers and coaches. As a family, we are truly thankful for the SSP village.

Yvonne Kong-Ho