Singaporeans visit Japan

The sport of orienteering has just started in Singapore. The Orienteering Federation Singapore became a member of the IOF last summer.

The federation was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and sent 5 orienteers from Singapore to Japan on the 20-28th of November. They trained in the Yamanashi prefecture and took part in two events in the Nagano prefecture with support from  the Japan Orienteering Association(JOA). Orienteering in Singapore is entirely held in parks, so this visit was a valuable opportunity for the Singaporean runners to do orienteering in forest terrains.

Their trip inspired them with new ideas on how they can approach their athletes’ training and orienteering promotion back in Singapore.

Team leader, Mr. Eugene Chow commented: “We would like to thank the Japanese government for their invitation to the Sport for Tomorrow Program. The trip has been a fruitful one for our young federation as we received the best coaching advice from the Japanese Champion (& former champions) as well as the insight knowledge on event management through our interactions with the various orienteering clubs and orienteers.”

They experienced not only orienteering but also Japanese culture during their stay. They tried an Onsen bath, making buckwheat noodles and visited a famous temple.

This is the “Project for Sports Diplomacy Enhancement” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The Government of Japan promotes to contribution to the international community through sport in the shape of the program “Sport for Tomorrow”. The program was announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the IOC Session on the occasion of  Tokyo making a bid for 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The program aims at sharing the values of sport with more than 10 million people of all generations in over 100 countries, including developing countries, during the course of seven years between 2014 and 2020.