The Singapore National Para Games (SNPG), formerly known as National Disability Games and then as National Disability League (NDL), is a multi-sports event for the disabled in Singapore. The league is held over a period of a few months yearly, to promote sports and nurture healthy lifestyle amongst the disabled as well as providing local competitiveness opportunities. It serves as a platform for people with disabilities to participate in the event on both a recreational and competitive level, as well as to create better awareness of
disability sports amongst the
able-bodied community.
In 2002, the National Disability Games was a series of disability sports events spread over seven days. In 2006. the
Singapore Disability Sports Council
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...
(SDSC) revamped the Games and renamed it as the National Disability League.
This new league format allowed participants to compete across three months, increasing their opportunities for exposure and
social interaction
A social relation or also described as a social interaction or social experience is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more individuals ...
.
Between the years of 2002 and 2005, the spirit of the games has grown tremendously as the National Disability Games functioned as a series of disability sports events spread over seven challenging and competitive days. This strongly signifies the increasing number of disabled people who are keen to participate in sports-related activities and it confirms the proven popularity of this league structure.
In 2006, SDSC has transformed the National Disability Games into the very first National Disability League (NDL), spreading across two to three months of highly anticipated competitive sports experience and exposure. NDL had provided a sustainable platform to enhance the performance growth and 'feel' of
competition during the three months. By inducting a sustainable platform, it allowed athletes to review areas of improvement in their performances and strive to improve during their next round of competition.
NDL 2009 saw the highest participation rate ever with 875 participants. These were a diverse mix of various disability groups from 12
voluntary welfare organisations, 6
special school
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
s and 39 individuals. This was a remarkable achievement as compared to the previous years:
* 2008 - 687 participants (with 7 sports)
* 2007 - 518 participants (with 11 sports)
* 2006 - 357 participants (with 13 sports)
The 15 sports offered in 2009 were
archery
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
,
badminton,
basketball,
boccia,
bowling,
chess,
equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...
,
futsal,
handcycling,
lawn bowls,
powerchair football
Powerchair Football (French: Foot-fauteuil), also known as Power Soccer, is a variant of association football for people with physical disabilities. Players use specially designed powered wheelchairs in order to maneuver and kick/hit an oversize ...
,
sailing,
shooting,
table tennis, and
wheelchair basketball.
Besides its emphasis on sustainable sports development, NDL focuses on spotting sports talents as well and serves as an avenue to select athletes to represent
Singapore at International and regional competitions such as the 1st Asian Youth Paralympic Games 2009 in
Tokyo,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and the 5th
ASEAN ParaGames 2009
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
In 2016, the NDL was renamed the Singapore National Para Games to align with the Singapore National Games.
References
{{Reflist
Parasports organizations
Sport in Singapore
Sports organizations established in 2006
2006 establishments in Singapore
Disability organisations based in Singapore