Targetted at youths between 12-18 years of age*, The Academy strives to give members a home-ground for healthy camaraderie, a sense of belonging and successful leadership, thus increasing resilience against risk of delinquent influences. Two main ways of achieving that is to provide role models and character guidance to youths, and groom them into youth leaders. Currently The Academy is focussed o
n inculcating leadership and sportsmanship through physical training and sports competitions; character guidance and development though community service and knowledge development through experiential learning. The Academy offers basketball training through a volunteer veteran coach and plans to expand the a range of activities to include sports such as captain’s ball, dragon boat, soccer and badminton as well as regular community service. To instill leadership qualities and empower the youths, The Academy will ultimately be governed by the youths themselves, overseen by the Executive Team. The youths’ involvement with the Academy will also grow the youth’s resilience during the time when their identities and self-perceptions are being formed. The Academy has about 30 youth members since its conception in March 2013 and is led by Arvin Yeo, supported by Jaysen How (professional), Joey Tan (professional) and Nicole Chai (professional). The Academy depends mainly on support from Hougang Community Centre, various sponsors and community grants.
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Components of HYA:
-Basketball Training and Friendly Games
-Community Service
-Annual Youth Leadership Camp
-Annual Youth Team Bonding
-Youth Incentive Program
-Tuition Program
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The Executive Team
Arvin Yeo – Founder
Jaysen How – Youth Individual Care Program (ICP) Executive
DongYu – Basketball Coaching
Nicole Chai – Community Service/Events Organiser
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* According to Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, a child’s journey to find his own identity takes place between 12 to 18 years of age, during when he will struggle with social interactions and grapple with moral issues. The child may go withdraw from responsibilities for a period of time, which, if unsuccessfully navigated, will cause the child role confusion and upheaval, which is commonly manifested as teenaged angst. Erikson went further to say that as adolescents do not have much experience to establish guiding principles to work through the unfamiliar situations, interactions and choices, strong devotion to friends and causes often are the basis of decisions. Therefore youths aged between 12 to 18 years are The Academy’s focus.
