Neo Beng Siang () is a professional basketball coach from Singapore. He is currently the head coach of the Singapore Slingers in the Asean Basketball League (ABL). He was the head coach of the

Singapore national basketball team The Singapore men's national basketball team is the national team for Singapore in basketball. It is managed by the ''Basketball Association of Singapore'' (BAS), formerly the Singapore Amateur Basketball Association (SABA). At the Asian Bask ...

from 2003 until his resignation in 2016

Career

Playing career

Neo was initially into football when he was in primary school. He initially played in the goalkeeper position but moved to the forward position due to his quickness. He was retained for a year in Primary 6 due to neglecting his studies. In secondary school, Neo switched to basketball. Following his participation at an inter-house basketball competition in Sec 2, the Toh Tuck Secondary School invited him to take a trial for a chance for him to secure a position at their team. Neo made it but after a year he got accepted in the school's team he followed his seniors and switched to playing for the Yuan Ching secondary school team. Yuan Ching was nearer to Neo's home in

Boon Lay Boon Lay (, ta, பூன் லே) is a neighbourhood located in the town of Jurong West in the West Region of Singapore. Its borders very roughly correspond to the URA subzone of Boon Lay Place, situated within the Jurong West Planning Are ...

. Neo played for the

Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association Warriors Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on 20 January 2013, they were previously known as the Singapo ...

turning down a chance to become a commando section leader while serving National Service.

International

Neo managed to secure a place at the Singapore national under-18 team in 1985. Four years later, in 1989, Neo joined the senior national team and played for them for a decade.

Coaching

The Police Sports Association approached him to lead their 3rd-tier side as coach after he retired as a player in 1999. He helped the side achieve promotions to the National Basketball League Division One. His stint with the Police helped him secure a job as head coach of the

in 2003. He helped the national team achieve a bronze medal at the

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games ( my, ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ် အရှေ့တောင် အာရှ အားကစား ပြိုင်ပွဲ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and comm ...

the first medal for the national team since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. The team also won another bronze at the SEA Games in 2015. He retired from his post with the national team to spend more time with his family. He has also coached the Singapore Slingers of the ASEAN Basketball League since 2011. At the

2015–16 ABL season The 2015–16 ASEAN Basketball League season was the sixth season of competition of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). The regular season started on 27 October 2015 and ended on 21 February 2016. Two Indonesian teams, the Indonesia Warriors and La ...

, Neo was conferred with the Coach of the Year award after leading his team to the final two, a first for the Singaporean side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neo, Beng Siang 1961 births People from Singapore Basketball coaches Living people Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Singaporean people of Hokkien descent ASEAN Basketball League coaches Singaporean men's basketball players Singaporean sports coaches Point guards