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History Of Sports In Singapore

Singapore is one of the developed nations across the world that has shown evolution in education and infrastructural development. Singapore saw rapid development in its economy over the past decade; soon after, it became an independent country. A few of the industries that have contributed to the country’s development are biomedical sciences, electronics, transport engineering, chemical, transport engineering, logistics, etc. Besides these, the sports industry has also started flourishing in Singapore. The field of sports came into prominence in front of a global audience during the 2016 Olympics. Joseph Schooling left the audience in awe with his scintillating performance in the 100 metres butterfly event that made Singapore earn its first Olympic gold medal. You will come to know about Singapore sports history further below.

Sports clubs in the colonial era

During the colonial period, the first sport that was famous during that time was horse racing. A few of the other instances that happened during the colonial era are

  • In 1842, the Singapore Sporting Club was formed. A racetrack was built after its formation, which is now known as the Farrer Park.
  • In 1843, the first race was held here.
  • The Singapore Sporting Club was renamed the Singapore Turf Club in the 1920s. Later, it was moved to Bukit Timah in 1933.
  • Another well-known club of that era was the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC), founded in 1852. This club still exists in Singapore.
  • The development of clubs like ANZA, Hollandse club, the British club, and the Swiss Club happened in this era because of sports played in Singapore.
  • Later on, sports like hockey and netball were introduced in Singapore in this era.

ANZA sports

In the development of sports in Singapore, ANZA has played a major role. In 1976, the ANZA international junior soccer team was started. The game netball started in Singapore in 1991. It started to be played at different courts at UWC and Tanglin Trust School during Saturday mornings. Women’s tennis started to be played in 1979 at ANZA club, and still that game is played there. There are around 15 sports groups now running under ANZA sports, and 1000 players are a part of it in total.

As of now, the Singapore Sports Institute conducts high-performance training for the sportsperson that are nominated by different sports association. In addition, many sports programs have been conducted by this institute for sports like badminton, fencing, bowling, netball, shooting, etc.