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More Opportunities for Student-Athletes to Compete Under New National School Games Format

Last Updated: 02 Feb 2023

News Press Releases

Student-athletes at the upper primary and lower secondary levels will soon have more opportunities to compete, with Singapore's largest inter-school sports competition introducing new Classification and League formats to replace its Zone and National competitions for Senior and C Division sports.

New competition format to offer more playing opportunities

2. In a shift away from the traditional geographical-based zonal competitions, participants in Senior and C Division sports at the National School Games (NSG) will first compete against schools across Singapore in a Classification round. School teams will then progress to round-robin competitions in the new League round and play against teams of similar abilities, with teams in the top League competing for the divisional championship titles. This format will allow most student-athletes to play more matches throughout the whole competition, as compared to the traditional zonal competitions where half of the student-athletes will play three to five matches at the zonal level. These changes are intended to increase participation for more student-athletes and promote a more enjoyable competition experience in the NSG.

3. The table tennis, tennis and water polo competitions will be conducted under the new competition format this year, with more sports joining next year.

NSG Sports to Return in Full Force

4. More than 60,000 student-athletes will be able to participate fully in all 29 sports as there is no longer a need for modifications due to COVID-19 restrictions1. This year, competition elements such as kyorugi (sparring) for Taekwondo and 15-a-side for Rugby will return, allowing our student-athletes to fully enjoy the sporting experience in the NSG.

About the National School Games 2023

The annual National School Games (NSG) is Singapore's largest and most extensive annual youth sports event with more than 250 divisional competitions for boys and girls. Running from January to August, NSG 2023 will see more than 60,000 student athletes competing across 29 sports.

Organised by the Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council and the Singapore Schools Sports Council, the NSG aims to provide opportunities for students to participate in inter-school competitions, and encourage character-building among student athletes as they pursue sporting excellence.

From February through March, schools will conduct their own symbolic ceremonies to allow students to show support for their school representatives and appreciate the value of sports participation.


Footnotes

  1. The Games were cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to the pandemic, and partially restored in 2021. In 2022, NSG resumed for all sports but some sports were played in a modified format, such as a reduction in the number of players.