{"id":45359,"date":"2019-02-17T17:11:19","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T09:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/?p=45359"},"modified":"2019-02-17T17:19:55","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T09:19:55","slug":"jsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2019\/02\/jsa\/","title":{"rendered":"All About The Junior Sports Academy (JSA)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many Interests, Limited Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the struggles as parents of Primary school going children is helping our children balance their time between school work, enrichment, hobbies, CCAs and personal recreation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t help also that our daughter is a very sporty, outdoorsy girl who seems to take onto ANY sports like fish to water.  In fact, at Primary 1, she was handpicked TWICE to join the school gym team but due to the intense commitment required (3 hours of training 3 times weekly), we decided not to enrol her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We signed her up instead for external recreational gym and tennis lessons outside of school.  This is over and above the swimming, cycling and skiing that she does in her own time out of interests \u2013 yes, she\u2019s that active.  All these require extra commitment in terms of time and money. It was taking a strain and barely sustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wanted to continue exposing our sporty child to sports without the stress of competitions.  But how can we do it given the limited time and resource constraints? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer? The Junior Sports Academy\u00a0or\u00a0JSA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The JSA is a fully-funded MOE programme introduced in 2008 to develop primary school students with higher abilities in the physical domain. It provides opportunities for these students to discover their sporting strengths so that they can continue to pursue them in the future if they desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It allows children to learn different types of sports of their choice in 4 different sports modules. If your child passed the trial, he\/she will get to pick one sports in each of these 4 main domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Net Barrier \/ Wall Games <\/strong>(e.g. Badminton, Tennis etc.)<\/li>
  2. Territorial \/ Invasion Games<\/strong> (e.g. Soccer, Hockey etc.)<\/li>
  3. Striking \u2013 Fielding \/ Target Games<\/strong> (e.g. Fencing, Shooting etc.)<\/li>
  4. General Sports and Games <\/strong>(e.g. Sailing, Track and Field etc.)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    She chose Flippa Ball for her Territorial Games Module.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The programme is open to all Primary 4 and Primary 5 students who have undergone and passed a half-day sports trial.\u00a0 Each year, JSA admits about 800 students nationwide to their line-up of more than 20 sports modules. The full programme begins in the Semester 2 of Primary 4 year and will end in Semester 1 of the Primary 6 year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With this timeline, a child who joins JSA in her P4 year will have the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of the 4 different sports modules.  Students who join only in P5 will get to experience only 2 types of sports modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The JSA Experience:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our daughter was over the moon when we received the email notification informing us that she has passed the trial.  During the parents engagement session, she selected the 4 different types of sports she would like to experience.  In her P4 (Sem 2), she did Flippa Ball (a type of water-polo sports) and now in P5 (Sem 1), she is in table tennis.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She absolutely enjoys her JSA sessions every Saturday morning.\u00a0 Besides learning the basics of the sports, she gets to interact with children from different schools who share a common passion for sports. The coaches are professional coaches screened and appointed by MOE. They have to abide by the high standard of care and professionalism set by MOE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As parents, the JSA is the win-win solution, which enables our sport-loving children to pick up different sports in her Upper Primary years without the added stresses that come with competitive trainings.\u00a0In fact, JSA frees our daughter up to pursue a non-sport CCA in school (which is choir). The non-competitive nature of the programme makes this a truly holistic and developmental experience for children.\u00a0 As a family, we are very appreciative of JSA! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \"\"
    Learning about team spirit, strategy and resilience through sports.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    When we were researching on JSA last year, we realised there isn’t much info except for the FAQ on MOE’s website<\/a>. We attempt to answer some common questions to share our experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. How does a child register for\nJSA?<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      When your child is in P4 or P5, your child\u2019s school should inform parents of the JSA selection trial dates sometime in early February. All primary schools will nominate suitable Primary 4 and 5 students for the trial. If your child is not nominated, parents can also nominate their children through the schools. Contact your child\u2019s Form Teacher or PE HOD for the nomination form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n