FILLING THE GAPS IN SINGAPORE'S SPORTS CULTURE

If you follow us on Facebook (Which you definitely should), you would have noticed an article posted by NMP Dr Ben Tan. In it he mentioned various issues with regards to the trends in Singapore’s Sports Culture. The entire article can be found here : NMP Dr Ben Tan warns of 10 worrying trends in Singapore’s sports culture

Do take some time to read through them as there are points which I believe are both valid and pertinent to what we see in Singapore. There is a response article that was written which cites the various works that SportsSG has been doing to try to alleviate the problems and worries by the Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong. Those can be found here : Minister Lawrence Wong responds to NMP Ben Tan in Parliament.

Essentially, the issue and the debate was really about how the culture of Sports and Fitness in Singapore is on a downhill and there isn’t much effort in place to help create an environment for sports and fitness to thrive. Though sports has been increasingly accessible to almost everyone in Singapore, it is still apparent that mental and emotional accessibility is lacking. There is also a huge emphasis on the professionalization of sport which is surprisingly causing our youth to have a tainted opinion of sports. Apart from the simple lack of motivation from the youth, the majority of Singaporeans are struggling with their fitness level. Lastly, it is mentioned that there is a lack of veteran friendly sports and as such, our Silvers are not being engaged.

So can Innervate CrossFit and what we offer bridge or fill the gaps which were mentioned in the article? Our program might not be the one and only solution to it but we believe that what we are trying to accomplish here at Innervate CrossFit is addressing some of the points.

Through our CrossFit Kids and Teens program, we are bringing fitness across as something fun to them.

We advocate sports and fitness to be enjoyed and not to be placed on a pedestal for the purposes of CCA points or DSA. As such, we run our classes in a manner that enable our teens to engage in healthy competition which is driven intrinsically. Extrinsic motivators such as prizes at the end of the month are used but they are not the focus. The message we bring across to parents is that Kids and Teens, at a young age, have to enjoy their sport and not be forced or driven to participate in them if they don’t like it.

Instead of placing the glory on the medals and the victory, we praise those who put in effort in whatever movements or challenges they do. We do so to bring the attention away from focusing solely on winning. We want our students to understand that in the heat of the competition, there is so much more than just winning. Learning from failure, picking yourself up after a defeat, sportsmanship and encouraging others along the way. Those are just some of the qualities which we advocate and often, honor that above winning the challenge or workout of the day.

Now on to the adults. It was cited in the article that there has been a rise in obesity and diabetes through the years. Most of these cases can be attributed to the lack of exercise and reduced fitness levels. Not just in terms of sicknesses but on a general scale, most Singaporeans are struggling with their fitness levels.

CrossFit has been proven to be effective to help various individuals increase their fitness levels in a short span of time. Evidence stems from various sources ranging from online testimonials, reviews, blogs and even youtube videos which are common. In fact, in the videos, people don’t just rave about their improvement in fitness and health but also elaborate on the community aspect of CrossFit. This community aspect, as mentioned in a previous post, A different Community, Speaks of the power of the community and why it is so attractive.

Not just that, research has shown that CrossFit as a fitness program has undoubtedly assisted various organizations in helping with team bonding, overall mental development and happiness levels. So as a fitness program, CrossFit is effective and attractive. This is seen in the growth of the number of boxes here in Singapore, currently, there are 10 CrossFit Boxes and Innervate CrossFit is one of them. We help to deal with the problem by being the go to fitness program.

The article also mentions of a lack of Elderly programs or programs that our veterans can engage in. Innervate CrossFit saw this problem arising and saw a lack of an effective program for these individuals. In fact, we wanted to provide an avenue for our veterans, not only to be active and have fun but also to vastly improve their functionality, mobility and ultimately, standard of living. As a result, the Silvers CrossFit Program was birthed and now we are helping those in the silver generation to relive their youth yet again.

So there you have it, Innervate CrossFit providing solutions and filling some of the issues mentioned in the original article. We might not be the all encompassing solution to many of these issues but we believe that one step at a time, we can make a difference to the Sports Culture in Singapore.