The Singapore National Para Games (SNPG), formerly known as the National Disability League is one of the fastest growing sports event in the disability community. Annually, the Games is held over a period of a few months. Functioning as a multi-display sports tournament, it seeks to promote sports, as well as to nurture a healthy lifestyle amongst the disabled, as well as providing opportunities to compete locally; this event serves as a platform for people with disabilities to participate in the event on both a recreational and competitive level, as well as to create more awareness of disability sports amongst the able-bodied community.
Originally known as the National Disability Games in 2002, the games started out as a series of disability sports events spread over seven challenging and competitive days. The enthusiastic response we received strongly signified the increasing number of disabled persons who were keen to participate in sports-related activities; it also confirmed the proven popularity of a competition structure.
In 2006, the National Disability Games was revamped, transforming into the National Disability League (NDL). This new league format allowed participants to compete across three months, increasing their opportunities to sports exposure and social interaction. The NDL provided a sustainable platform to enhance the performance growth and ‘feel’ of competition. By creating a sustainable platform, athletes can review areas of improvement in their performances and strive to improve in future competitions.
In 2016, the NDL was renamed the Singapore National Para Games to align with the Singapore National Games. The 19 sports now offered (as of 2016) are Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boccia, Basketball (3on3), Chess, Equestrian, Football, Goalball, Handcycling, Lawn Bowls, Powerchair Football, Powerlifting, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tenpin Bowling and Wheelchair Basketball. Besides its emphasis on sustainable sports development, SNPG serves as an avenue to spot rising athletes who can represent Singapore at regional and international competitions such as the ASEAN Para Games, Asian Para Games, and the Paralympics.
Today, SNPG has a unique position for sports development as it allows all athletes to have a continuous and sustainable competition platform. It gives each athlete the feel of competition, placing them against athletes of different performance levels, leading them to re-strategize their paradigm of winning games.