Tchoukball going places

Having been president of the Tchoukball Association of Singapore since 2016, Delane Lim is eager to grow the sport within and beyond the island.

So when he was approached to be part of the main committee of the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Federation (APTBF), he jumped at the chance.

At the APTBF general assembly last Monday, Lim was part of the team who was elected unopposed, making him the first Singaporean in the Asian body's main committee. He will serve as the vice-president for four years under president Kao Chin-hsung of Chinese Taipei.

Lim, 37, told The Straits Times: "It's very humbling. I'm not a tchoukball player, but I hope that when it comes to sports administration, I can add value in terms of my knowledge and skills.

"My interest is to grow the sport at the South-east Asian level and get it included in the SEA Games. The APTBF is also working on getting the sport recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia and I want to help make that happen."

He also hopes to establish an athletes' commission in the APTBF, which has 15 full members, and increase female participation in the sport.

At the biennial Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships, the average number of teams in the women's category is eight and Lim hopes to increase this to at least 13, equal to the men's game.

On the importance of having an athletes' commission, he said: "As the sport grows, we need to look at the safety and welfare of the athletes and the progression towards being a professional player.

"If we don't have a structured development pathway, the sport might go extinct because there's no progression for the players.

"Players have to know that there is progression for them if they want to pursue a career in the sport and what comes after athlete life, so we want to have a structure for that."

Lim, who runs a charity, also hopes to raise participation rates in Singapore by having it included in the National School Games and hosting competitions here.

Singapore will bid to host the World Youth Tchoukball Championships next year. Yesterday, the Singapore girls thrashed hosts Thailand 49-19 in the final of this year's event in Bangkok while the boys lost 60-40 to Chinese Taipei.

With more tchoukball tournaments, Lim's new role in the APTBF and the Singapore women's recent triumph over world champions Chinese Taipei at the Asia Pacific Championships, Lim hopes the public will have greater awareness about the sport and be encouraged to pick it up.

He said: "It's competitive sport but it also helps in the character development of young people. And they will get to compete at the international level, whether it's in Asia Pacific or the world championships. It's not just a game, it's a team sport that can teach people many things."