The People's Association (PA) hopes 11,000 people will take part in this year's Community Games, up from the 9,000 participants last year.

The association said it will also rev up the 2013 edition with three new sports to attract more people to the games.

This was revealed on Saturday, during the official launch of the island-wide multi-sports competition at the Yuhua Community Club.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu, both Jurong grassroots advisors, also attended the launch.

Organised by the PA and its 87 Community Sports Clubs, the games will run until June 30. CG 2013 will include the team sports of dragon boating, road run relay and swimming relay in addition to last year's seven sports - badminton, basketball, bowling, football, netball, sepak takraw and table tennis.

Incoming PA chief executive officer Ang Hak Seng said that he hopes to attract 11,000 participants to this year's games, up from last year's 9,000 players.

This is part of the grassroots organisation's focus on strengthening sports communities at the neighbourhood level, said Mr Ang. This includes co-funding equipment costs and improving access to sports facilities and expertise for sports interest groups.

The Government will set aside an additional $400 million for sports over the next five years, announced Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Friday.

As of 16 March, 456 teams comprising over 3,400 people have already registered for the Games. Registration for some sports is still open.

For more information, please visit www.pacsc.org.sg