Kuala Lumpur, 22 February 2023 – Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) and the Nicol David Organisation (NDO) today launched their collaboration for the Little Legends programme at the Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort. YSD is committing RM1 million to NDO across three years for the successful execution of this programme.

This collaboration was launched by Y.A.M. Tunku Tan Sri Imran Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar, Chairman of YSD and Director of NDO; Datuk Nicol Ann David, Founder and Head Coach of NDO; and Dr Hjh Yatela Zainal Abidin, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YSD.

The Little Legends programme is a holistic initiative that aims to use sports as a vehicle to empower public school students by way of an after-school programme that includes squash training and English tutoring. The programme, available for young girls and boys from the age of eight to 12, will include squash training and life skills workshops, including the required equipment and gear, transportation to and from the respective schools within the area, and opportunities to participate in intra and inter competitions for exposure.

YSD’s three-year support is to provide wider access to children from B40 and M40 backgrounds, to increase opportunities to discover local talents, and develop them to eventually feed into the national elite teams. The collaboration will support 150 children in total to participate in the programme, who are recruited from public primary schools within the Bukit Jalil and Sri Petaling vicinities. 50 participants will attend two one-hour classes every week for a year, with a total of eight contact hours per month for squash training, which will be monitored and evaluated to ensure every participating youngster can access sport and outstanding coaching in a friendly and safe setting.

The Little Legends programme, led by Datuk Nicol Ann David, eight times squash world champion as Head Coach, and Mariana de Reyes, a former world-class squash player who is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NDO, will include a squash development programme developed by Nicol herself, as well as English tutoring that adopts the Cambridge curricular approved by the Ministry of Education (MOE), with ambitious goals to drive inclusivity.

“I am delighted to count on the support of Yayasan Sime Darby to continue to grow our Little Legends programme and see the children attain their full potential in squash and in English proficiency. I am certain that the combination of both will produce more holistic athletes with confidence to help boost their resilience and motivation to push through in the long run,” said Datuk Nicol Ann David at the launch of YSD’s sponsorship.

In his officiating address, YSD Chairman Tunku Tan Sri Imran said, “We are proud to be working on this exciting new initiative because both NDO and YSD are driven by a passion for sport, as well as a desire to help the younger generation to thrive and become the best possible versions of themselves through the power of sport. Little Legends epitomises this ambition by eliminating barriers to opportunity and establishing talent pathways.”

Additionally, it is hoped that with an increased interest and uptake in squash, this programme will also provide an avenue for the recruitment of coaches from the KL Squash Association affiliated with World Squash Federation certification, which will inspire employment opportunities in the sports sector.

As the philanthropic arm of Sime Darby Berhad, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, and Sime Darby Property Berhad, YSD has committed over RM202 million towards linking over 3,000 participants from the grassroots and elite levels for sport opportunities.