Treading on Uncharted Waters: Journey to Tokyo 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games from Singapore's Lens
Mr Henry Koh, Mr Mark Chay & Mr Nenad Viali
Session Synopsis
Mr Henry Koh (Fencing), Mr Nenad Viali (Sailing), and Mr Mark Chay (Para-swimming) will share their coaching journey to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games at this plenary.
Through this session, you will have the opportunity to hear from them their reflections and lessons learnt as they grapple with and overcome challenges amidst the pandemic backdrop. From here we will also consider how these takeaways can inform our approach to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Participants can look forward to an engaging session that will involve rich discussions and reflections.
Presenter Profile

Blade Club Singapore
Club Owner, Head Coach I National Partner Coach (Singapore National Epee Team)
Henry graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He has a Fencing Coaching Diploma from FIE, the international Fencing body that oversees the Olympic Sport.
He was previously the top ranked fencer in Singapore (Foil) for many years, and double Bronze medalist at the SEA Games 2003. He is currently the National Partner Coach helping to lead the Singapore National Epee Team training program. He is also the primary coach for numerous National Team athletes across all three weapon disciplines.
His students include some of the top Fencing athletes in the country, including a member of the Bronze medal winning Foil team at the Asian Games 2018, the first gold medalist in the Women's Epee event at the 2019 SEA Games for Singapore in 30 years, and the first ever Singapore qualifier in Epee to the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.
Outside of Fencing, Henry spends his time writing software, developing business ideas, and exploring financial investments. He has ongoing projects in developing online and mobile applications, as well procedurally generated digital art.
Presenter Profile

Global Esports Federation I Singapore Disability Sports Council
Director of Administration I Singapore Paralympic Swimming Coach I Nominated Member of Parliament
Mark Chay is a two-time Olympian who is also the coach of Singapore's five-time gold medallist, Paralympian, Yip Pin Xiu. Outside the pool, he serves the sporting community in a myriad of roles on various committees at the Singapore National Olympic Council, Athletes' Committee, Olympic Council of Asia, Olympians Singapore, Sport Singapore, National Youth Council and the Singapore Sport School. Mark is currently the Director of Secretariat for the Global Esports Federation. In January 2021, he was appointed a Nominated Member of Parliament for the 14 Parliament of Singapore.
Presenter Profile

Singapore Sailing Federation
spexScholarship Olympic Laser Coach
Nenad Viali is currently the Coach of spexScholar Ryan Lo who debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the Laser Standard class. He has been coaching Olympic Sailing since 2004 and worked with Olympic teams of Slovenia, New Zealand, Croatia, Holland, Montenegro, and Singapore. He provides expert knowledge in technical equipment, boat handling, strategy, tactic, and works closely with the sport science and sport medicine team to deliver a holistic high performance programme.
The Ingredients of Success
Mr Sándor Tótka, Mr Viktor Hüvös, Mr Gergely Boros & Mr Márton Sik
Session Synopsis
An interactive plenary discussion with an illustrious Hungarian panel who will share about Hungary's success at the Tokyo Olympic Games and their sustained achievements in the Sport of Canoe Sprint.
With a total of 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze at the Tokyo Olympic Games and a total of 200 World Championship Gold medals, Hungary has been reckoned as the top nation in the Sport of Canoe Sprint. At the recent conclusion of the World Juniors and U23 Championships in Portugal, Hungary continued to dominate with a total of 29 medals, including 17 Golds. It's Canoe Sprint accomplishments over the years have been unrivaled, despite its relatively small population of 9.7 million.
What, then, contributes to the sporting success of this nation?
Join Singapore Canoe Sprint Head Coach, Mr Balázs Babella, as he facilitates a candid panel discussion with Olympic Champion, Mr Sándor Tótka, his Coach, Mr Viktor Hüvös, the Technical Director of the Hungarian Canoe Federation, Mr Gergely Boros and the Director of Szeged Water Sports Club, Mr Márton Sik. They will be zooming (pun intended) in on the important ingredients that are pertinent to the Canoe Sprint success of Hungary.
Presenter Profile

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist
Sándor Tótka is a Hungarian Kayaker, who is an Olympic Champion in the Men's 200m Kayak Single 2020 Summer Tokyo Olympics. The two-time World Champion and four-time European Champion was also the 2010 Youth Olympics Champion when the inaugural Canoe Sprint event was held in Singapore.
From a young age, Sándor was involved in many sports including football, gymnastics, athletics and ballroom dancing. When he turned 10, he started kayaking and fell in love with the sport. His success started with the Youth Olympic Games and continued to grow across multiple events over the years as he focused his attention on kayaking.
Presenter Profile

Sprint Kayak Coach of Olympic Gold Medalist, Mr Sándor Tótka
Viktor Hüvös is the Sprint Kayak coach of Sándor Tótka as well as Bence Nadas who represented Hungary at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Besides coaching multiple European and World Champions to success, he is also recognised as a Master Coach in Hungary.
Presenter Profile

Hungarian Canoe Federation
Technical Director
A European and World Champion in the K4-200m event from 2007 and Silver Medallist at the 2014 World.Championships in Moscow, Gergely went on to become the Technical Director of the Hungarian Canoe Federation after he stepped down as a professional athlete. Under his charge, the Hungarians continued to excel in their competitive pursuits as he helped ensured the sustainability of the country's success in the Sport.
Presenter Profile

Szeged Club
Director
Márton Sik is a Hungarian sprint kayaker who has competed since the mid-2000s. He won two medals in the K4-500m at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and was also part of the K4-1000m crew at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After concluding his career as an athlete, he became the Director of his Home Club at Szeged. With his guidance, Canoe Sprint is thriving and two of the most recent successes include a Gold from Tokyo Olympics and a Bronze from Tokyo Paralympics.
An Athlete-Coach Perspective on Effective Coach Leadership Practices
Ms Joan Poh, Ms Nur 'Aini Mohamad Yasli, Mr Clarence Chew, Mr Yugesh Kannan, Mr Loh Ngiap Tai & Ms Lim Chea Rong
Session Synopsis
What makes a good coach? What leadership styles are effective and impactful to our athletes?
This interactive virtual plenary session will bring together perspectives from both athletes and coaches who will share on the various leadership styles and support structures they have experienced and explored during their respective sporting careers.
Coaches implement different types of leadership that apply interpersonal and technical components, positive feedback, various coaching behaviours and social support.
Leadership styles oriented to delivery, positive feedback, social support, and democratic behaviour have all been positively linked to collective great confidence in individuals or team and increased beliefs of high efficacy.
Participants can expect to take away the following from the interactive session:
- Insightful conversations with athletes and coaches who have competed and coached from developmental to high performance.
- A greater understanding from various athletes' perspective on effective coaching leadership practices
- Sharing of best practices and challenges of various leadership styles from seasoned youth coaches with various coaching experiences (developmental, youth-at-risk, high performance)
Presenter Profile

Singapore National Rower
Joan first represented Team Singapore in the sport of Dragonboat racing and her highest achievement in that discipline was competing at the 2010 Asian Games. In 2015, she transitioned from Dragonboat to Sailing and subsequently Rowing, where she won a Bronze medal at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore. At the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia, Joan competed in the women's 2,000m single sculls where she finished ninth. Following her initial attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she finally booked her ticket for Tokyo 2020 and achieved fourth placing in the Women's Single Sculls E Finals.
Presenter Profile

Singapore Paralympic Powerlifter
Aini is the first Singaporean powerlifter ever to compete at the Paralympic Games as she made her debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on 26 August 2021.Nur Aini was first introduced to powerlifting in 2015 when Powerlifter Kalai Vanen approached her at the gym. Due to school commitments, she had to turn down the offer to pick up sport. In 2017, Kalai approached her again and that was when Aini decided to give it a go. 2 months into the sport, Aini was selected to compete at the 9th ASEAN Para Games 2017 held in Kuala Lumpur. In 2019, Aini underwent knee surgery due to an unfortunate incident. During her recuperation, she showed courage, grit and determination to come back stronger. Despite no international competitions in 2020, Aini was steadily climbing in her performance. It was at 11th Fazza Dubai 2021 Para Powerlifting World Cup that Aini lifted her personal best of 81kg. Before that, her last official lift was at 65kg.
Presenter Profile

Singapore National Table Tennis Player
Clarence Chew is the first Singapore-born paddler to qualify for the men's Table Tennis singles at the Olympics. Clarence started Table Tennis at the age of 5 years old and is currently a full-time athlete. He studied at Singapore Sports School and Republic Polytechnic (Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management) and joined the National Team in 2011. Clarence brings a wealth of competitive athlete experience, having represented Singapore at the recent Tokyo Olympic Games, 2010 Youth Olympic Games, 2014 Commonwealth Games and multiple SEA Games from 2013-2019.
Presenter Profile

Competitive Football Player
Yugesh has been playing football competitively since he was 13 and has been involved in the SportCares Saturday Night Lights Programme since 2014. Since joining the SportCares programme, Yugesh has taken part in multiple competitions and has been given endless opportunities which he greatly credits his coaches and the staff at SportCares for. 20 year old Yugesh is currently in National Service, serving as a trainer in Clementi Camp, training up Security Troopers.
Presenter Profile

Football Plus
Director
Mr. Loh Ngiap Tai is the director of FootballPlus, a charity that uses a values-based football programme to impact the lives of young people in the community. Ngiap Tai is an AFC 'A' license coach with more than 20 years of coaching experience. He is also a Continuing Education & Training (CET) Lecturer with Republic Polytechnic in the School of Sports, Health and Leisure.
Presenter Profile

Singapore Sports School
Head Coach (Shooting)
Ms Lim Chea Rong has been coaching since 2003 and a recipient of the inaugural Singapore Coach Medallion in 2019. She set up her own coaching school which provides coaching services to various institutions, however, in 2010, she decided to join Singapore Sports School as she wanted to coach and nurture high level shooters.
How Coaches and Athletes are Using Technology to Win
Mr Tim Rouse & Mr Edward Sulley
Session Synopsis
A look into the journey of how to get started with applying technology to high performance workflows that facilitates both the development of the athlete and a winning culture.
Hudl will take coaches through the critical steps of getting started with meaningful analysis and give a glimpse into the 'art of the possible' across the key sports in Singapore.
Hudl will examine the 'Why' and the importance of video analysis in an ever changing world, where communication across generations is paramount for the development and success of sporting organisations.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions prior to the event and our team of experts will prepare answers and demonstrations to present working technology solutions to their coaching queries.
Presenter Profile

Hudl
Director, APAC
Tim has worked in Elite sports for 12 years starting out as a Physiotherapist in Australia before moving to the USA to work in elite performance training, specialising in biomechanics of NBA athletes. In 2013 he joined the Hudl team leading the Elite sales division in Australia, working across all the major National Federations. In 2017 he moved to Singapore to lead the development and growth of analytics across Asia building teams in China, Japan, Korea and Singapore. Tim has a passion for educating aspiring analysts and sport professionals and creating job opportunities as Hudl expands.
Presenter Profile

Hudl
Director, Customer Solutions
Edward has 18 years of professional football experience and joined Hudl after a successful 11 year period at one of the fastest growing global sports organisations, City Football Group (CFG), working with 7 clubs in Manchester, New York, Melbourne, Yokohama, Girona, Montevideo and Chengdu. His diverse experiences and qualifications span Coaching, Performance Analysis, Sports Science, Medical, Scouting, Recruitment, Research, Innovation, Strategy, Project Management and Leadership. During the last 5 years, his main focus at CFG was to design and implement a football strategy for their clubs in Japan and China, leveraging best practice knowledge
How to Develop a Coaching Plan for the Olympics
Mr John Beasley
Session Synopsis
This highly-interactive session will introduce coaches to key considerations in designing and implementing a coaching plan to prepare a national team for the next Olympics. Head Coaches, technical advisors, and sports administrators can hear from John Beasley, the successful Olympic Coach of the Malaysian cycling team for Tokyo 2020. What does planning involve? How detailed can the plan be? What affects successful implementation? The session will be conducted as a conversation with ample opportunity for participants to pose questions - and to hear about what contributes to success at the highest levels of sport.
Presenter Profile

Head Coach and Director of Cycling Coaching Malaysia
Considered the father of Malaysian track cycling, John Beasley is the longest-serving foreign coach in Malaysia after more than 15 years. Having coached world-class cyclists for several years, John led Malaysia to its first cycling medal at the Rio Olympic Games, followed by a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Beasley started with the Victorian Institute of Sport as an assistant coach, before the Australian Cycling Federation appointed him the national junior sprint track coach. In 2005, he was appointed as the Director Sportif for the AG2R Cycling Team. Beasley was next appointed the Australian national senior sprint track coach for one season. In 2006, he was appointed as the national track coach by Malaysian Sports Institute.
John is from a family that has been passionate about cycling for three generations. He shares his love, passion, and knowledge for the sport through coaching.
Skill Acquisition Framework for Youth Coaches In Singapore
Dr. Neha Malhotra, Dr. Jonathan Leo Ng & A/Prof Chow Jiayi
Session Synopsis
Dr. Neha Malhotra (NYSI), Dr. Jonathan Leo Ng (MOE) and A/Prof. Jia Yi Chow (NIE) will introduce the Skill Acquisition Framework for Youth Coaches in Singapore. The framework is informed by research exploring the various factors that impact skill acquisition and long-term athlete development. A draft of the framework was previously presented at NYSI's Youth Coaching Conference 2021. This time around, we revisit the core components of the framework and provide a more in-depth look into some of the key concepts, key design principles and potential applications for coaches. Participants can look forward to an engaging session that will involve rich discussions and reflection of current practice.
Presenter Profile

National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI)
Sport Psychologist
Dr. Neha Malhotra is the Skill Acquisition Specialist and Sport Psychologist at NYSI. Neha's work as a Skill Acquisition Specialist is greatly influenced by her insights from working as a Sport Psychologist as well as her research expertise. Neha's PhD from The University of Hong Kong primarily focused on identifying novel and individualised training approaches suited for individuals to optimise performance under pressure. Neha works closely with youth coaches on ways to apply skill acquisition principles in their everyday practices. Dr. Neha also currently oversees the NYSI Research and Development initiative which facilitates novel multidisciplinary projects in applied sport science to improve the performance of Singaporean youth athletes.
Presenter Profile

PE, Sports and Outdoor Education Branch, MOE
Education Officer
Dr Jonathan Leo Ng is an officer with PE, Sports and Outdoor Education branch at MOE and Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Otago. His research interests focus on the application of ecological dynamics theory in sports coaching, pedagogy, and skill acquisition.
Presenter Profile

National Institute of Education
Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Programme & Student Development
Jia Yi graduated from the School of Physical Education (SPE) with Honors and is a teacher by training. He taught for a few years in a Singapore school before returning to Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) Academic Group as a lecturer. Jia Yi undertook further postgraduate study and obtained his PhD in the area of Motor Control and Learning with the University of Otago, New Zealand from an Overseas Graduate Scholarship (OGS) awarded by NIE. His research interests includes examining multi-articular coordination from a Dynamical Systems Theoretical perspective, visual perception in sports expertise and in a pedagogical approach (Nonlinear Pedagogy) where key pedagogical principles underpinned by representative learning design, manipulation of task constraints, functional variability, relevant focus of attention and task simplification can support nonlinearity in learning. He is currently on the Editorial Board for International Journal of Sport Psychology and Sports Medicine (Open).