The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic Polytechnic (RP) yesterday to forge an alliance to provide opportunities to educate and engage youth on sports science.

The RP-FAS Centre of Excellence (COE) was also jointly established and officially opened yesterday by Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health, Amrin Amin.

The partnership will see the joint COE, based in RP's Sports Engineering Lab, use a scientific and data-driven approach to give players an edge in five key areas of high performance, fitness and nutrition, building mental resilience, injury management and improving coaching and administration systems.

The FAS and RP will also jointly develop lab activities, courses, final-year projects and academic modules related to the sports industry to enhance school curriculum.

FAS deputy president Bernard Tan believes the partnership will help develop players to deliver a more intensive and higher level of performance.

"At the elite level, the athletes' performance is determined by the edge provided by sports science in developing and raising their capabilities to ensure that they peak at the right time," said Tan.

"With this as the focus, the FAS has forged a meaningful partnership with Republic Polytechnic, a reputed institution, which has developed considerable competencies in this area over the years to help develop our young footballers.

"At the same time, this partnership will increase the body of knowledge for RP and give young sports scientists a greater exposure to football science."

Dr Michael Koh, RP's Deputy Principal (Academic Services), added: "Moving forward, this collaboration will benefit our full-time students as well as provide opportunities for lifelong learning when more football-related workshops and courses are made available in the near future."