BADMINTON COURTS TO BE SET ASIDE FOR COACHES

SportSG acts after fraternity's frustrations and petition over the MyActiveSG+ booking platform

- Deepanraj Ganesan

From Aug 24, government agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) will set aside courts for registered badminton coaches after the coaching fraternity hit out at ActiveSG's new booking platform.

Local badminton coaches have voiced their frustration that the MyActiveSG+ booking platform, which was launched on June 15 and described by SportSG as being "fairer, more transparent", has severely affected their livelihood.

Coaches whom The Sunday Times spoke to lamented the unpredictability of the new system, which has limited the number of coaching sessions that they are able to get, while there have been more than 1,500 signatures on a petition for reform.

A key change in the new webbased platform is the ballot feature for peak-hour slots for all sports facilities.

Previously, users had to secure their slots on a first-come, firstserved basis when booking opened as early as 7am.

The refreshed platform, which requires Singpass for logging in, was implemented with the aim of levelling the playing field for users, with the focus on eliminating bots that were illegally used to obtain slots for the purpose of reselling.

In a joint response, the National Instructors & Coaches Association (Nica) and SportSG said they engaged badminton coaches in June to listen to their feedback and concerns.

To help coaches, five dual-use scheme facilities have been set aside for coaching.

Under this pilot scheme, courts are provided to Nica at non-subsidised rates for coaches' bookings from 3pm to 9pm on Saturdays and 9am to 9pm on Sundays. Eligible coaches will be able to secure a block of two-hour booking of two courts for 12 continuous weeks.

Both organisations said in response to queries: "The take-up rate for the first 12 weeks, beginning Aug 24, is close to 20 per cent. SportSG will continue to monitor and work with Nica to enhance this viable option as part of our efforts to serve all stakeholders."