Based on a preliminary assessment of the Singapore Gymnastics Survey that many of you recently completed, it quickly became clear that some clarification about the specific role of Singapore Gymnastics (SG) would be valuable to share with our community.

Singapore Gymnastics is the 'Governing Body' for gymnastics in Singapore. As such, it is affiliated with three key bodies:

1. Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG)
2. SportSG
3. Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC)

All three bodies will only recognise an organisation that is the single national entity representing the sport in Singapore. To become a member of FIG, an organisation needs to supply proof that they are recognised by the National Olympic Committee and the government in their respective countries. It should also be noted that all three groups will only recognise organisations that are established as, and maintain, a Not for Profit governance structure.

The objectives of the National Sporting Association (NSA) are extremely important to gain recognition from each of these bodies:

• Be accountable at the national level for providing its members with technical and ethically sound programs, services, policies and services, and
• Be responsible for all forms of the sport in Singapore from grass roots/community through to high performance.

This affiliation goes two ways. From the perspective of SG, it means we will abide by the rules and regulations placed on by FIG, SportSG and SNOC. In turn, each of these bodies will support SG as the governing body of gymnastics in Singapore and will only work directly with SG for any international competitions, coaching and judging courses, and financial support.

Some examples of how this affiliation with FIG operates are:

• Any FIG coaching or judging academies are organised by SG in collaboration with FIG. Any coaches or judges wanting to attend FIG courses that are not conducted in Singapore require SG to submit their intent to attend.
• FIG will only accept entries into FIG events to represent Singapore (Asian Junior Championships, Asian Championships, World Championships, etc) that are submitted and ratified by SG,
• FIG will only recognise NSAs if they cover all FIG disciplines. That is, FIG will not recognise individual 'WAG' or 'TRA' national associations (for example). If anyone where to try to enter a FIG event from an organisation that did not cover all disciplines, they will not be accepted.

Some examples of how this affiliation with SportSG operates are:

• Funding for very specific projects is given to SG from SportSG, which can only be spent on these activities. These activities are related to building the capacity and capability of the key drivers of the sport; clubs and technical members for all disciplines, as well as the development of participation and sport pathways for the athletes and coaches,
• Funding to assist in events through venue hire relief,
• Funding for High Performance specifically dedicated for the purpose of running National Training Centres (NTCs) for three disciplines of the sport. SportSG believes that these NTCs provide the best opportunity for long term high performance success,
• Access for NTCs to facilities and support staff from Singapore Sports Institute and National Youth Sports Institute, and
• Access spexCarding and spexScholarships programmes for athletes.

Some examples of how this affiliation with SNOC operates are:

• The ability for gymnastics to have athletes compete in Major Games such as SEA Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Olympic Games,
• Support, access and connection to International Olympic Programmes such as the IOC Sports Administrator Programme, and
• Access to scholarship programmes such as Peter Lim and the Olympic Solidarity.

Some ways Singapore Gymnastics leverages these affiliations to provide value to its members (club, athlete, technical) are:

• Good working relationships with these key organisations enable access to resources that would otherwise not be available to gymnastics in Singapore. For example, knowledge of future trends regarding code of points, knowledge of changing government policy, knowledge of possible resources that can be leveraged to grow the sport in Singapore (eg: KinderGym Launch), the 'ear' of the Minister,
• Economies of scale. SG is working hard to build its membership in order to be more attractive to sponsors, which will, in turn, provide more benefits to its members,
• Capacity to run large scale competitions (National Championships and Singapore Open) which are recognised by SportSG and FIG respectively. These competitions would not be recognised otherwise.  The partnerships with these organisations also assist with the running of these events which then reduces the cost of athlete and spectator entry,
• Annual SportSG funding that SG receives subsidises the costs of activities and programmes SG conducts such for members such as:
  • Development and conduct of Coach & Judge education courses
  • Workshops for clubs and technical members
  • Pathway programmes,
• SportSG funding enables SG to enhance initiatives and benefits offered to clubs and technical members, such as 3^rd Level Consulting and HR Recruitment Inc,
• Support for coach and athlete development through the Singapore Gymnastics Development Programme,
• Assistance in developing a recognised, government approved Education framework that ensures competent coaches, and
• Development and implementation of participation programmes such as KinderGym that can increase club membership and revenue.

It is in these ways that Singapore Gymnastics is able to gain support and generate resources which develop the sport, as a whole, throughout Singapore.