By Jonathan Wong

HE MAY be only 12 years old but Etienne Lee has already represented Singapore and won a silver medal at last year's World Junior Wushu Championships in Bali.

The Tao Nan School student, who now trains with the national youth squad, was part of the pioneer batch of more than 250 primary school students at the Ministry of Education's Junior Sports Academies (JSAs), which were launched last year.

The success of the original four academies - JSA student athletes have also gone on to feature in national age-group teams for badminton and football - coupled with the positive feedback from parents, have led to a further eight JSAs being set up this year.

They include Anglican High (badminton), Anglo-Chinese Primary (swimming), Catholic High (wushu), Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary (shooting), Pasir Ris Crest Secondary (fencing), Nan Hua Primary and Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' (Secondary) (both table tennis) and Yio Chu Kang Primary (football).

Other sports included in the JSA programme are netball and athletics.

'This programme is in line with Singapore's vision of being one of the top 10 sporting nations in Asia by 2010,' said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, who launched the project yesterday at Yio Chu Kang Primary.

JSA's student-athletes receive specialised coaching and are sent on overseas training stints - about 50 per cent of them have done so.

Such experiences, coupled with exposure to a higher level of competition, will help these budding athletes realise their potential.

Each year, an estimated 200 students who excel in their respective sports or who display outstanding potential will be invited to enrol in the two-year JSA programme, from Primary Five onwards.

Training is conducted by coaches from the various national sports associations.

The plan is to have at least 25 JSAs for 11 sports by 2012.

Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Transport) who was also at the event, added that such JSAs will be crucial to the Government's approach to developing sports in the future.

He said: 'Both the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and MOE are looking to work closely together to further enhance sports in Singapore. We're looking at a possible tie-up between the JSAs and sporting institutions.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.