PUBLISHED ONMarch 05, 2026 8:24 AMBYDana LeongA new high-performance entity to support athletes and help them stay longer in competitive sport will be launched on April 1, said David Neo, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.
Speaking during the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's (MCCY) Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on Thursday (March 5), Neo said that the High Performance Sport Institute, Singapore Sports School (SSP) and Unleash the Roar! will be consolidated into Sport Excellence Singapore, or SpexSG, from April.
By combining the expertise and capabilities across the three entities, the ministry will be able to optimise resources, enhance athletes' daily training environment and strengthen governance of Singapore's high-performance sport system.
"This consolidation will materially transform the sporting ecosystem for the better," Neo said.
Athletes can look forward to enhanced support through a dedicated Athlete Life Management system and receive holistic guidance from a team of athlete life performance managers, said Acting Minister Neo.
"We will enhance the breadth and depth of our support to athletes, by making our high-performance sports system more athlete-centric and whole-of-life," he said.
Besides supporting athletes in their respective disciplines, the system will also provide guidance in terms of tertiary education, career development, family planning, financial literacy, and personal growth.
SpexSG will also provide broad-based workshops to equip athletes with relevant skills in areas such as personal branding, entrepreneurship, mental wellness literacy and media training, he added.
Athletes will also receive more support through sport science and sport medicine that will be strategically clustered across sports.
SpexSG will also focus on supporting student-athletes, particularly those interested in committing more seriously to their sport, said Neo.
"We will strengthen SSP's role as our education concierge for all Team Singapore student-athletes," the acting minister said.
By consolidating SSP into SpexSG, the entity will be able to leverage SSP's expertise and offer it to all Team Singapore student-athletes regardless of age or school.
Those still pursuing their education will also be supported by new initiatives to facilitate more flexible entry points for student-athletes ready to commit more seriously to sport.
In particular, SSP is developing capabilities to support overseas-based student-athletes for both the secondary and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, giving them the opportunity to continue their studies during overseas training stints without taking time off from school.
This builds on SSP's current efforts to support students, including their recent partnership with Temasek Polytechnic's School of Applied Science to create five joint diploma programmes which provide expanded academic pathways from secondary to post-secondary.
Additionally, SSP signed a Memorandum of Understanding with six local autonomous universities last year to enhance athlete-friendly practices on campus, helping student-athletes balance their academic and sporting commitments.
"Above all, SpexSG will transform the end-to-end journey of our national athletes to be a lot more integrated and seamless," the acting minister added.
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