The future of sports

Loose cannon as guest of Astro Awani's U-Wartawan discussing the future of Malaysian sports...

Loose cannon believes our athletes have it good. They have the support of the government and adequate incentive schemes to push them to greater heights.

Our biggest drawback, however, is the officials who have vested interests and are not sincere in developing the athletes and their respective sports.

Also loose cannon does not agree if we were to increase the RM5,000 reward for a gold in the SEA Games. Considering the fact the athletes are fully funded, we have to impress upon them the need to aim higher.

As for the Chinese and British experts presently in Kuala Lumpur to present their views at the National Sports Convention, loose cannon has this to say:

"Can we as parents or siblings of the athletes accept it if our athletes are subjected to a regimented lifestyle from young as practised by China?

"Can we, like the athletes in Britain, accept it if the training is fully funded by the government without any additional incentives (like the National Sports Incentives Scheme or Skim Hadiah Kemenangan (Shakam) by the National Sports Council (NSC)?"



KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Youth and Sports is expected to review the allocation for National Sports Associations (NSAs) that failed to deliver the goods at the Laos SEA games that ended last week.

Its Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the participation of national athletes in Laos had largely helped gauge the performance of the respective NSAs involved.

"There were specific events that we should not have lost, especially against opponents from countries that are new to the sport," he told reporters at the National Sports Convention held at the Putra World Trade Centre here Tuesday.

Ahmad Shabery said the failure of some NSAs had forced the ministry to conduct a study to find out whether the actual problems faced by such associations was due to training, development programmes or the association itself.

"One important aspect to look at before providing financial assistance is to assess how the association is managed," he said.

The Malaysian contingent which participated in 21 of the 25 sports hosted by Laos, won 40 gold, 40 silver and 59 bronze medals but a number of sports that were expected to contribute gold medals, failed to achieve the objective.

Among sports seen as a failure in Laos was sepak takraw which returned with just a silver and bronze and lost to minnows, Laos, in the process.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Shabery who opened the convention said the National Sports Convention was a new approach enhance the status of sports in the country.

"Resolutions adopted at the convention last year were an eye-opener to outline the road map for Malaysian sports and implement the necessary programmes to achieve success at a higher level.

"The resolutions were divided into six committees so as to carry out programmes like identifying the potential sports that can contribute medals in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games," he said.

Ahmad Shabery said the convention this year was very important as two experts, one from China and another from Great Britain would present a paper each on the Olympic Games.

"We will find the best resolution by witnessing China's superb achievement in the Beijing Olympics last year before focusing our attention on the 2012 London Olympics," he said.

He said all the input from the two experts would be used to enhance the outlook of Malaysian sports and their ideas used to implement a more structured sports programme.

The two-day convention attended by about 200 participants, would discuss the resolutions adopted during last year's convention.

--BERNAMA

Proposal To Set Up A Sports University Rejected

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- The Higher Education Ministry has turned down a proposal to set up a Sports University, since eight Higher Education Institutions (IPT) had been identified as excellence centres for the development of sports.

The Ministry's sports division Principal Assistant secretary Ahmad Naim Ismail said a resolution for setting up a Sports University as proposed during the Sports Convention held last year would not be required.

"The Higher Education Ministry feels the setting up of a Sports University is not relevant for the time being," said Ahmad Naim when presenting a paper at the two-day Sports Convention (2009) held at the Putra World Trade Centre here on Tuesday.

Ahmad Naim said the eight IPTs identified as excellence centres were Universiti Malaya (netball), Universiti Putra Malaysia (rugby), Universiti Teknologi Mara (football), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (cricket), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (rowing), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (taekwondo), Universiti Utara Malaysia (golf) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (swimming).

Another resolution turned down was the setting up of a salary scheme for athletes since it would have a big financial implication said National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong.

Zolkples said however, a number of athletes had been offered employment with the NSC on a contract basis, and athletes given flexibility to train full time.

"Athletes who won medals in the Olympics also stand to benefit from a permanent incentive scheme that has been introduced. Currently there are six athletes who receive incentives under the scheme," said Zolkples who presented a paper on high performance sports.

Apart from the permanent incentive scheme for the Olympics, athletes are also rewarded through incentives schemes for Olympic medal winners, medal winners at regional games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, world class events for seniors and juniors, as well as rewards for coaches, said Zolkples.

He added that the NSC had also set eight and 10 gold medal targets for next year's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry would also set up two sports schools, one each in Pahang and Sabah, under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, at a cost of RM80 to RM90 million, said the ministry's Principal Assistant Director for Sports, Art and co-curriculum Dr Zubir Hassan.

-- BERNAMA