Forum: Equip students with the skills to balance sports training with exams

Youth footballer Mika Bazil Baihakki’s recent exclusion from the national Under-16 team for choosing to skip a training camp to prepare for his N-Level examinations highlights a perennial challenge: balancing academic achievement with sporting development. (

Local celeb Norfasarie’s post on son’s omission from U-16 football team goes viral; FAS responds

, Aug 28)

I empathise with the family and the Football Association of Singapore. Mika’s case is not the first, and if nothing changes, it will not be the last.

We need to equip all lower secondary students with the skills to manage dual demands from the outset. These include time and lifestyle management, structured study techniques, goal setting, and stress-coping strategies. Once established, these habits provide the foundation for students to handle increasing academic and athletic pressures as they progress.

But these lessons could remain theoretical unless students have the opportunity to apply them. Hence, schools can further support student athletes by allowing training even during examination periods.

Training during exams provides a real-world platform for students to put these skills into practice: managing their time, focusing their energy, and balancing competing priorities. Over time, it builds resilience, discipline, and confidence – qualities that last far beyond the school years.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of teaching and witnessing how record-breaking athletes such as Mok Ying Ren, Soh Rui Yong, Jeevaneesh Soundararajah and Ethan Yan developed these skills while training in our school cross-country team.

Each of them went on to manage both study and sport successfully, proving that it is not only possible but also deeply rewarding.

Their journeys remind us that academic and sporting excellence need not be mutually exclusive; with the right habits and support, they can reinforce and strengthen each other.

This latest case should not be seen as a choice between books and sports. It is a call to act – so that we equip our youth to succeed in both.

Steven Quek Chin Hwee