Sports DSA, After the 2026 Results: Two Coaches on Why the Talent Is Only the Start

Most of what gets written about DSA is about getting in — the trial, the portfolio, the offer. Far less is said about what the coaches who prepare these children actually see once a cycle closes, or what they'd tell a family that is only now, after this year's results, starting to wonder whether the sports route is for them.

So now the 2026 DSA-Sec results are out, we went back to two coaches we featured in June's sports guide and asked a simpler question: what did you actually see this cycle?

Their answers landed on the same uncomfortable point from two very different sports — and it's not the point most families lead with.

Tan Wei Leong is Founding President and Head Coach of Club ZOOM Track & Field, an NROC Master Coach who also lectures in sports coaching and sport management. Jun runs Jun Tennis Academy. Between them: track and tennis, two of the busier DSA sports.

Most children landed a place — but look at the shape of it

Start with the reassuring part, because it's real.

"Yes most kids got into either 1 of their 3 choices, some more competitive ones like MGS might be waitlisted."

— Jun, Jun Tennis Academy

And from Club ZOOM, a wider read on where the sports pathway actually leads:

"Yes, we had a number of positive DSA outcomes this year, across quite a wide range of pathways.

One interesting development for us was that we even had successful cases involving students in Secondary 2 transferring through their sporting pathway into niche schools. We have also seen athletes progress through sports pathways into junior colleges and polytechnics. So I think families should understand that opportunities do not necessarily begin and end with the traditional P6 DSA-Sec exercise."

— Tan Wei Leong, Club ZOOM Track & Field

That last line is worth holding onto if this year didn't go the way your family hoped: in these coaches' experience the sporting pathway keeps reappearing later — at Secondary 2, at JC, at polytechnic — not only at the P6 gate. It's a coach's observation of their own athletes, not an MOE rule, but it reframes the P6 exercise from a single make-or-break door into one door among several.

"Sporting performance alone is not enough"

Here is the point both coaches circled, and it's the one families most often get backwards — the assumption that if the child is fast enough, or wins enough, the place follows.

"From a coach's perspective, however, one thing became increasingly clear this cycle: sporting performance alone is not enough.

Schools are looking more holistically at the student-athlete — sporting performance and potential, but also academics, attitude, discipline, consistency, coachability and how the student presents themselves during trials and interviews. My observation is that schools are becoming more careful about this balance."

— Tan Wei Leong

Read that list again. Of the seven things he names, only one is about sport. The other six — academics, attitude, discipline, consistency, coachability, how a child carries themselves in the room — are about the person. A blazing time or a clean win is what gets a child looked at; it is not, on its own, what gets them chosen.

The offer is the beginning of the work, not the end of it

This is the part no application checklist shows you, and it's where Wei Leong was most cautious.

"This is particularly important academically. If a child's academic foundation is already struggling significantly, I would be cautious about pursuing a DSA simply for the sake of entering a particular niche school. Getting the offer is only the beginning. The child still needs to cope with the school's academic demands while managing a heavier training and competition schedule."

And the line that sums it up:

"So while sport may open the door, the student must still be able to function and develop once they walk through that door."

— Tan Wei Leong

A sports DSA place typically lands a child in a stronger, faster-moving academic environment and a heavier training load at the same time. If the academics are already shaky before that double weight is added, the offer can become the start of a hard stretch, not a solved problem. Winning the place and thriving in it are two different questions — and the second one matters more.

Don't write your child off at 11, 12 or 13

The flip side of that caution is a genuinely hopeful point — and Wei Leong made it from his own life, which is why it carries.

"I would also tell parents not to panic if their child isn't academically outstanding at 11, 12 or 13. A child's present academic standing does not necessarily define what he or she can eventually become."

"I came through the Normal (Technical) stream myself and was certainly not someone people would have identified early as an academic high achiever. I was a late developer. Later in life, I completed my Master's in Sport Management and eventually became an associate lecturer teaching in polytechnics and at university level."

"Development is not linear — academically or athletically. Some children mature earlier, some much later."

— Tan Wei Leong

The same applies on the field: the child who is biggest, strongest and fastest at 12 is not necessarily the one still ahead at 16. A single snapshot — of grades or of athletic ability — is a poor predictor of where a child lands. That cuts both ways: it's a reason not to over-invest a whole childhood in one early strength, and a reason not to give up on a late developer.

There is no fixed trial to drill for

Parents often want the formula: what exactly is the tennis trial, and how do we prepare for it? Jun's answer is that the formula keeps moving.

"For tennis, always the same — depends who the coach is; any new coach etc might have different ways to test the student during the trials."

— Jun, Jun Tennis Academy

In other words, the person running the trial shapes what the trial is, and that changes. It echoes something we heard on the academic side this year too — that there's no single standard DSA test a child can pattern-match to. The more durable preparation is broad competence and composure — real skill, match-play experience, and the ability to perform without freezing — rather than rehearsing for one imagined version of the day.

The reframe worth taking away

Ask Wei Leong what he'd tell a family just starting out, and he doesn't answer with a tactic. He answers with a change of question.

"For families just beginning this journey, my advice would be not to start with, 'Which school can my child DSA into?'

Start with, 'How can we help our child become a better student-athlete over the next few years?'"

"If we develop the whole person rather than simply chase a DSA offer, I believe the opportunities will take care of themselves."

— Tan Wei Leong

The first question makes the school the goal and the child the means. The second makes the child the goal and the school one of several possible outcomes. On this coach's evidence, families who play the second game tend to end up with more doors open, not fewer — including the ones that appear later, well after the P6 exercise is over.

What this means for you

Treat the athletic result as necessary, not sufficient. Speed, wins and rankings get your child looked at. Academics, attitude, discipline, coachability and how they present at the trial are what get them chosen. Build all of it, not just the sport.
Be honest about the academics before you chase a place. A sports DSA lands your child in a harder academic environment and a heavier training load together. If the foundation is already shaky, the offer can be the start of a struggle. The place is the beginning, not the finish.
Don't over-read where your child is at 11–13. Development isn't linear, in grades or in sport. Don't bet the whole plan on an early strength, and don't write off a late developer.
Don't drill for one fixed trial — it isn't fixed. The coach running the trial shapes it, and that changes. Build real skill, match-play experience and composure, which travel across whatever format a child meets.
Change the opening question. Not "which school can my child DSA into," but "how do we help my child become a better student-athlete over the next few years." The pathway keeps reappearing — Sec 2, JC, polytechnic — for families who develop the whole person.

If your child is only starting to explore this, begin with What is DSA-Sec?. For the fuller picture of what schools look for in sport, read June's sports coaches' guide, and to see how the same "no single standard test" theme is playing out on the academic side, see Academic DSA in 2026: What Changed. When you're ready to find a coach for your child's sport, browse the DSA coach directory.

With thanks to Tan Wei Leong of Club ZOOM Track & Field and Jun of Jun Tennis Academy for sharing their reflections on this cycle and for permission to quote them. Quotes are reproduced as sent, edited only for minor punctuation and typos. Their observations reflect their own coaching experience and are not official MOE criteria or results data. DSALink is an independent resource and is not affiliated with MOE.