Neo Beng Siang () is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He is currently the head coach of the Singapore Slingers in the

Asean Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

(ABL). He was the head coach of the Singapore national basketball team from 2003 until his resignation in 2016

Career

Playing career

Neo was initially into football when he was in primary school. He initially played in the goalkeeper position but moved to the forward position due to his quickness. He was retained for a year in Primary 6 due to neglecting his studies. In secondary school, Neo switched to basketball. Following his participation at an inter-house basketball competition in Sec 2, the Toh Tuck Secondary School invited him to take a trial for a chance for him to secure a position at their team. Neo made it but after a year he got accepted in the school's team he followed his seniors and switched to playing for the Yuan Ching secondary school team. Yuan Ching was nearer to Neo's home in

Boon Lay Boon Lay (, ta, பூன் லே) is a neighbourhood located in the town of Jurong West in the West Region of Singapore. Its borders very roughly correspond to the URA subzone of Boon Lay Place, situated within the Jurong West Planning Area ...

. Neo played for the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association turning down a chance to become a commando section leader while serving

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

International

Neo managed to secure a place at the Singapore national under-18 team in 1985. Four years later, in 1989, Neo joined the senior national team and played for them for a decade.

Coaching

The Police Sports Association approached him to lead their 3rd-tier side as coach after he retired as a player in 1999. He helped the side achieve promotions to the National Basketball League Division One. His stint with the Police helped him secure a job as head coach of the Singapore national basketball team in 2003. He helped the national team achieve a bronze medal at the

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games ( my, ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ် အရှေ့တောင် အာရှ အားကစား ပြိုင်ပွဲ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and comm ...

the first medal for the national team since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. The team also won another bronze at the SEA Games in 2015. He retired from his post with the national team to spend more time with his family. He has also coached the Singapore Slingers of the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

since 2011. At the 2015–16 ABL season, Neo was conferred with the Coach of the Year award after leading his team to the final two, a first for the Singaporean side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neo, Beng Siang 1961 births People from Singapore Basketball coaches Living people Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Singaporean people of Hokkien descent ASEAN Basketball League coaches Singaporean men's basketball players Singaporean sports coaches Point guards