On a sunny day, a group of children, supported by parents, volunteers and a physiotherapist, met in the park a stone’s throw away from Singapore National Stadium. It was 5 November 2023, and the children were part of the PlayBuddy programme for children with special needs.
Dr Teoh Chin Sin founded PlayBuddy in 2016 as a free volunteer-based programme where children meet and play sport weekly. They learn a sport for about four to eight weeks before moving on to another sport.
This time, the children were learning Taekwondo and there was even a special treat awaiting them at the conclusion of this programme.
After learning the basics of kicking, punching, blocking and even breaking a couple of boards over the first three weeks of the programme, the children were invited to Singapore Taekwondo Federation National Training Centre at Lorong Limau to get a taste of what it really meant to train for competitions.
There, the highlight was writing the challenges they faced as children with disabilities on the boards and they have broken the boards to symbolise as overcoming the challenges.
The programme wrapped up after a successful run on the 26 November 2023.
The STF Para-Taekwondo Sub-committee would like to thank the children, parents, volunteers and physiotherapist for their participation. Special thanks are also extended to Dr Teoh for enabling STF and the STF Para-Taekwondo Sub-committee to be a part of this purposeful and meaningful PlayBuddy programme.
