SINGAPORE - Take your pick from playing futsal with the cityscape as a backdrop, to having a lunch-time workout in the heart of Marina Bay, or competing with national athletes to participating in sports try-outs in the heartland.
GetActive! Singapore, the national sporting bonanza taking place throughout this week and concluding on Sunday (Aug 7), presents an assortment of more than 200 sports events and activities for Singaporeans to sweat it out.
Here are some highlights of the islandwide sporting bash:
Singapore National Games
The biennial multi-sport competition will feature a total of 10,349 able-bodied and para-athletes competing across 21 sports.
Former and current national athletes including SEA Games bronze medallist archer Tan Si Lie, Singapore Slingers' star Wu Qingde, and Paralympic-bound para-archer Nur Syahidah Alim, will also be participating at the Games.
The Games, offering more than $200,000 of total prize money, commenced last Saturday and end on Aug 7, will take place across 16 venues.
GetActive! by the Bay
The heart of the city has been transformed into a giant sporting arena.
Office workers in downtown can find plenty of fitness and sports activities to choose from at the Promontory @ Marina Bay.
They can join new mass participation activities organised by companies through the Active Enabler scheme, a ground-up initiative that supports projects to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
One of the endorsed events is Singapore Active Gaming, where participants can exercise by playing console games such as Xbox and Kinect on Saturday.
Sabrina Wang, founder of the event's organiser Sauceink, said the main objective of the event is to encourage people, especially those who love to play console games, to start exercising.
She said: "The Kinect Sports Rivals (Climbing) isn't just a console game, it is a serious workout. It's an exercise packaged in a game format that is fun, without the risk or fear of falling, or having to go to places with rock climbing walls in Singapore."
Companies are also encouraged to allow their employees leave work early and utilise the free pop-up multi-purpose tentages at the Marina Bayfront venue. They can also book free basketball and futsal courts too.
Becton Dickinson, a pharmaceutical company, chartered five buses to ferry about 150 employees from Tuas to Marina Bay on Tuesday afternoon. The firm had booked the venue to host a sports day.
The company's vice-president Cheong May Kwai said: "We felt that this ActiveSG initiative was a good platform to showcase sports and to encourage our associates to play sports and have a good work-life integration. They can even go to the gym during office hours, as long as they get their work done and we trust them to manage it."
Sports Festivals
The heartland will also be buzzing with sports activities over the weekend.
Sports festivals will take place over this weekend (Aug 6 and 7) at 15 ActiveSG sports centres and three community fields in Tampines, Woodlands and Jurong East.
Besides participating in zumba fitness workouts, the public can also try out sports including athletics, football, basketball and tennis.
Under the GetActive! Singapore bash, sports centres and public spaces around the island will feature 21 sports for the ongoing Singapore National Games, which conclude on Sunday. More than 240 ground-up initiatives will also take place under the Active Enabler programme.
To top off the sports fiesta, ActiveSG is offering free entrance to all their swimming pool and gyms this weekend.
For more information, visit www.myactivesg.com
