As Forum writer Woon Wee Min noted, Sport Singapore (SportSG) has been working towards providing Singaporeans with more inclusive sport facilities and activities (Room to improve sport programmes that promote inclusivity, April 9).

Coaches play an important role in this process of supporting and enhancing participation in para sport. We partner local and overseas organisations to roll out various initiatives to support coaches and instructors, special education teachers and administrators, and volunteers.

These include disability awareness and technical courses, which cover topics such as identifying barriers faced by persons with disabilities in sports, and on how to adapt coaching programmes to be more inclusive.

ActiveSG Para Sport Academy employs qualified coaches in our programmes, which cover 10 sports including para badminton, para table tennis, para canoe, para swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. 

Although it has been only two years since its launch, we are encouraged that more than 400 participants have benefited from these initiatives.

We also work with the national sport associations to give sport competition opportunities for persons with disabilities so that aspiring para-athletes can benefit from a pathway spanning from fundamental movement skills and recreational participation, to high-performance sport.

Making sports more inclusive is not something we can achieve alone. We welcome partners and the community at large to work together with us to enable more persons with disabilities to be engaged, enriched, and empowered through sports.

Marcus Tan
Chief, Sport Development Group
Sport Singapore