Background of ASEAN Schools Games
Discover how the ASEAN Schools Games grew from a single sport in 1977 into a major regional multi-sport event for school athletes across Southeast Asia.
The first ASEAN Schools Championships were held in 1977 for the sport of Track and Field and was hosted by Indonesia. Thereafter with Indonesia initiating the idea, the ASEAN Schools Sports Council (ASSC) was formed to coordinate and champion sporting programmes and activities in ASEAN countries. In 2008, the ASSC members agreed to adopt a ‘SEA’ Games type format (i.e. as a multi-sport event) for its competitions starting with the 1st ASEAN Schools Games (ASG) in 2009.
The 1st ASEAN Schools Games (2009), with ten sports, was hosted by Thailand in Suphanburi. Prior to this, the ASSC scheduled four to five single satellite sports championships per year hosted by various member countries.
The schedule of hosting countries for the multi-games ASG is planned until 2025:
This year, the 14th ASEAN Schools Games will be held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei from 20 to 29 November 2025.
The objectives of ASG are as follows:
To promote ASEAN Solidarity in our youth through school sports;
To provide opportunities for school athletes to benchmark their sporting talents in the ASEAN region; and
To provide opportunities for school athletes to interact and engage in cultural exchange within ASEAN.