Tchoukball chief Delane Lim: ‘Dead-end’ sport debate has sparked something positive

Q: Take us back to when tchoukball started here – what was it like then, compared with now?

Delane Lim: Tchoukball was introduced to Singapore around 2003 through the People’s Association, and TBAS was formed in 2006.

Back then, it was a small community registered as a society, not a recognised national sports association (NSA). Interestingly, some of the early work involved youth-at-risk and potential early school-leavers, so there was always a strong social purpose behind the sport.

I got involved only in 2018... To be very frank, when I agreed to help, I didn’t really know what I had agreed to.

The difference between then and now is quite remarkable. Today, we’re a recognised NSA and charity, and our teams are competing among the best in the world.

Q: What’s the vision for tchoukball? Is being a part of major Games (SEA, Commonwealth and Asian Games) the ultimate aim, or is growth measured differently?

Lim: Of course, getting tchoukball into the major Games is an ambition. I don’t think we should shy away from saying that. Whether it’s the SEA Games, Asian Games or eventually other major multi-sport Games, that recognition would be significant for the sport.

But I don’t think that should be the ultimate or only measurement of success.

For me, success is whether more young people are playing, whether we have strong schools and clubs, good coaches and referees, a pathway for a 12-year-old to eventually represent Singapore, and whether our national teams can compete with the world’s best.

Q: What would you say has been the biggest shift in how the sport is perceived?

Lim: One word: credibility.

When I came in during 2018... We weren’t a recognised NSA, and very often the first question was, “What is tchoukball?”

We spent years building trust, strengthening governance and gaining recognition. Then the international results started coming as well.

Today, schools, parents, sponsors and stakeholders look at the sport differently.

Q: What are the day-to-day challenges of running an NSA that doesn’t have the resources or profile of bigger sports like football or swimming?

Lim: The responsibilities don’t become smaller just because you’re a smaller sport.

We still deal with governance, finance, safeguarding, athletes, coaches, referees, competitions, overseas participation, sponsorship and communications.

The difference is that we don’t have the same manpower or commercial resources as larger sports. Many people are volunteers and sometimes one person wears three or four hats.

Funding is always challenging too, especially because we don’t want representing Singapore to become an excessive financial burden on athletes and families.

Q: How do you compete for kids’ attention against more established sports?

Lim: I don’t really see ourselves as competing against football, badminton or basketball.

Tchoukball is non-contact, relatively easy to pick up, and because many children haven’t played before, they often begin on quite an equal footing.

We’ve seen children who may not have found their place in traditional sports discover tchoukball and suddenly become very engaged.

Q: Tchoukball looks set to be included in the NSG. What would this mean for the sport?

Lim: We’ve been working towards the NSG for many years and we’re encouraged by the progress. Of course, there is a formal process and any announcement should come from the relevant authorities.

I also want to acknowledge Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo, who was instrumental in helping our student-athletes gain recognition through the Singapore Schools Sports Council Colours Awards and, importantly, in starting the conversation about what it might take for tchoukball to eventually be considered for NSG.

If and when NSG inclusion happens, it would strengthen the pathway from school competition to clubs, youth development and potentially representing Singapore.

Q: What would it mean for the current student-athletes?

Lim: There’s something special about putting on your school jersey and representing something bigger than yourself. It gives young players recognition and something to aspire towards.

But not every child needs to become a national athlete. If they leave tchoukball with friendships, confidence, resilience, teamwork and great memories, we’ve already achieved something.

Q: Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) secretary-general Mark Chay’s recent comments about non-major Games sports being “dead ends” caused a stir. What was your reaction then?

Lim: My first reaction was disappointment and, frankly, I was a little angry. I disagreed quite strongly with the characterisation, and many within our tchoukball community felt the same way.

People from several other sports reached out and spoke up as well. That told me the comments had touched on something much broader, which is how we recognise and value athletes and sports that may not currently be part of the major Games.

At the same time, I could understand the broader point Mark was making about pathways to the major Games and how Singapore prioritises its sporting resources.

But describing sports outside the major Games as “dead ends” was unfortunate because those words can unintentionally diminish the years of effort and sacrifice made by athletes, coaches, parents and volunteers.

Q: How did you deal with the reaction from the fraternity in the days after?

Lim: There were naturally strong emotions. Parents were upset, athletes were disappointed and people within the fraternity wanted to respond.

But as a leader, I also had a responsibility to make sure that our disappointment didn’t turn into personal attacks or something unnecessarily divisive.

My message to our community was that we could disagree strongly with what was said, and we should stand up for our athletes, but we should focus on the issue rather than the individual.

Q: Did you speak with SNOC or Chay?

Lim: I spoke directly with Mark.

It’s always better to speak directly to someone rather than through social media or through other people.

He shared with me the context in which the comments were made and where he was coming from. I shared with him why the words had affected our athletes and our community.

We had a frank conversation. We didn’t necessarily have to agree on every point, but we understood each other’s perspectives and we’re good.

Mark and I have different roles to play in Singapore sport. Sometimes those roles mean we look at the same issue through different lenses.

Q: Months on, what do you see when you look back on that episode?

Lim: I think something positive came out of it because it started a conversation that perhaps Singapore sport needed to have. What does success in sport really mean?

As a sporting nation, we should aspire to compete and succeed at the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics. But I don’t think that can be the only definition of sporting success.

There are athletes representing Singapore and achieving at world and continental levels in sports that are not currently part of those Games. Their commitment, sacrifices and achievements don’t become less meaningful because their sport isn’t on a particular Games programme.

Q: Singapore is hosting the World Tchoukball Championships (WTC) in 2027. What are the challenges of organising such a large-scale event?

Lim: This isn’t Singapore’s first world-level tchoukball event. We’ve hosted world youth championships before.

In fact, World Youth can sometimes be more challenging operationally because you’re managing minors, parents, safeguarding and welfare.

Hosting at home is also strategic. We save significantly on airfare and accommodation for our athletes, allowing more Singapore players to experience international competition.

For WTC 2027, some challenges will be funding, sponsorship, broadcasting, presentation and spectatorship.

Q: Given that sporting events here do not always fill out venues, will people come and watch?

Lim: Our spectator capacity is around 600, so we’re not talking about filling a massive stadium. But we still have to earn that audience.

During the previous world youth championships, people who had never played tchoukball came to watch.

Afterwards, kids were pestering their parents to buy them a ball or look for lessons. People were looking for clubs, finding kakis (Singapore slang word for friends) and searching for places to play. I actually learnt tchoukball by being a spectator.

I watched it, slowly understood it and eventually fell in love with the sport. Although I’m still a “CMI” (cannot make it) tchoukballer.

So yes, we want those 600 seats filled. But I’m equally interested in what those 600 people do after they leave.

Q: The national women’s team is world No. 1, yet that’s not widely known even among sports fans. Why do you think that is so?

Lim: Our women’s team being world No. 1 today is something Singapore should be very proud of, but it didn’t happen overnight.

If you go back to the 2023 world championships, our women finished fifth. Our men’s team were also among the leading teams in the world. Over the past few years, both teams have been slowly climbing, and today our women are world No. 1 and our men are world No. 2.

But being No. 1 is actually stressful for the athletes, coaches and me because suddenly everybody expects you to stay there. So I always calibrate expectations: Top four is good. Podium is fantastic. First is a bonus.

The reality is simply that tchoukball is still an emerging sport competing for attention alongside many established sports and outstanding Singapore athletes.

Q: Five years from now, what would success look like for tchoukball?

Lim: Of course, I hope Singapore remains among the world’s best. I want podium finishes, stronger pathways and hopefully progress towards major Games inclusion.

But five-year success isn’t just rankings and medals.

Are more children playing? Are our schools and clubs stronger? Do we have enough coaches and referees? Are our athletes better supported? Do we have more corporate and community partners?

And one thing we don’t talk about enough is leadership succession and that’s a challenge for every NSA, but probably an even bigger challenge for a small NSA.

Our job isn’t only to develop the next national athlete. We need to develop the next coach, referee, administrator and, importantly, the next generation of leaders.

If five or 10 years from now I can step back, see the next generation running the sport better than we did, I’ll consider that a success.