Basketball Association of Singapore appoints new Chief Executive

The Basketball Association of Singapore has appointed Leon Neo Lih Yaw as its new Chief Executive, seconded from SportSG for a two-year term. With a wealth of experience and a proven track record in both public service and the private sector, Neo is anticipated to lead the organisation into a new era of growth.

Neo, 47, started his new role last week, replacing James Soh, 40, who was hired in March 2022.

Neo, who was previously a sports performance manager for nine years at Sport Singapore noted “we are not quite happy with the outcome but we still believe that we can one day win back the medals at the SEA Games.

“Building a high-performance system is not something we can do overnight. It requires the collective efforts of everyone to work towards a common shared vision.”

Neo boasts over 20 years of experience working in both the public service and the private sector. He has been with SportSG for more than a decade, collaborating with various National Sports Associations (NSAs) in Singapore to advise them on their multi-year sports plans and funding matters. With this experience, Neo will play a pivotal role in helping BAS strengthen its governance and financial capabilities.

He is also seeking greater financial support and believes the association has under-utilised the potential of the One Team Singapore Fund (OTSF) in the past year. The OTSF is an initiative launched by national agency SportSG, which offers one-for-one matching grants from the Government, capped at $50 million over five years, for donations to national sporting associations.

According to BAS’ financial reports, it got nothing from the OTSF in the 2022-23 financial year, compared to $110,703 in the previous period. That amount, however, made up just over 4% of the $2,566,051 in funds available to BAS in 2021-22.

In the last financial report, BAS received $800,000 in cash from SportSG but that goes towards supporting their headcount, office space and national training programmes. Another $400,000 are facility grants which are non-cash components.

Neo shared “we need more cash flow to fund our development programmes. We cannot fully rely on Sport Singapore’s funding as we need more than that and we are striving to be self-sustainable in future.

“We currently have some good sponsors and partners and we hope that we can build stronger relationships with them.

“We’ve had zero donations for the past six months and my immediate task is to build on this. We are looking for business partners who are interested in walking this journey with us, so let’s build a win-win collaboration together.

“In the coming months we’re going to beef up donation drives, campaigns and fund-raising dinners. We have a list of planned events, courses, competitions, workshops laid out in our whole year calendar and all these require resources to fund.”

Taking on this task is no easy job, but Neo is confident that he will work with stakeholders to elevate the sport to greater heights and shared "I am both grateful and honoured to be given this opportunity to serve in one of the most popular sports in Singapore. It is with great pleasure that I can seize this chance to work with a team of passionate volunteers and staff. I look forward to meeting more enthusiastic individuals to help build the Basketball ecosystem together."

While Neo used to play basketball in primary school, he later transitioned to competitive volleyball during his secondary and tertiary school years. He believes that his understanding of team sports can help bring the community closer together.

BAS Secretary-General, Kelvin Tan enthused "we are very excited to welcome Leon to the Basketball Association of Singapore. His extensive experience in the sports scene, coupled with his personal passion for cultivating a positive and communal culture around it, is truly admirable. I, for one, am grateful to work alongside him."

BAS extends its gratitude to James Soh, the previous Chief Executive, for his dedicated leadership, and eagerly anticipates a smooth transition under Leon Neo's guidance.

Image. Leon Neo. Credit: Basketball Association of Singapore