A Singapore Government Agency Website How to identify
Official website links end with .gov.sg

Government agencies communicate via .gov.sg website
(e.g. go.gov.sg/open). Trusted websites

Secure websites use HTTPS

Look for a lock () or https:// as an added precaution.
Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

National School Games 2024: Student-Athletes of Similar Abilities to Compete Under New Pool and League Competition Format

Last Updated: 29 Jan 2024

News Press Releases

Student-athletes participating in team sports at the upper primary and lower secondary levels will have more opportunities to compete under the new Pool and League competition format at this year's National School Games (NSG).

New Pool and League Competition Format for Team Sports

2. Building on the Classification and League format1 introduced last year, some school teams competing in this year's NSG will be grouped into various pools based on their results from last year's NSG. This approach will allow teams of comparable abilities to play in the same pool, and provide a positive competitive and learning experience for participating student-athletes. Under the new format, student-athletes participating in team sports will have opportunities to play a minimum of six matches throughout the NSG, compared to the traditional competition format where many teams may be eliminated after the first round of competition.

3. Based on their performance in the Pool round, school teams can then advance to compete in the League round, where teams of comparable abilities play against one another and those in the top League will compete for divisional championship titles.

4. Starting from 2024, 10 sports in the Senior Division and nine sports in the C Division will adopt the Pool and League competition format:

  • Senior Division sports: Badminton, Basketball, Floorball, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Softball, Table Tennis, and Volleyball.
  • C Division sports: Basketball, Floorball, Football, Hockey, Sepaktakraw, Softball, Table Tennis, Tennis, and Water Polo.

More Sports to Be Held Under Classification and League Format

5. Following the introduction of the Classification and League format for the table tennis, tennis and water polo competitions last year, the C Division badminton, netball and volleyball competitions will also be conducted under this format at this year's NSG. Student-athletes participating in these three sports will then transition to the Pool and League competition format in NSG 2025.

About the National School Games

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 2024 will see more than 65,000 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. Participants will first compete against schools across Singapore in a Classification round. School teams will then progress to round-robin competitions in the League round and play against teams of similar abilities.