2016 year starter: Golden year ahead

Khairy articulating his vision for a return to sporting glory.

Malaysian fans supporting the national sepak takraw team at the 2015 SEA Games final held in Myanmar.

Through this new structure, all stakeholders have a shared responsibility in the development of sports at all levels, says Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“Of course, the national sports associations have a big responsibility in ensuring the development of their respective sports are on the right track.
 
“The new structure shows specific tasks and responsibilities of each stakeholder at various levels starting from talent identification, talent development at the district and state level, specialised training for junior athletes and elite training for senior athletes at the national level,” he explains.

For 2016, Khairy wants each association to ensure all athletes and coaches assigned to particular programmes meet the training requirements.

The ministry, through the National Sports Council (NSC) and the National Sports Institute (NSI), has implemented various programmes such as MyTid, Multi-lateral Development, Bakat, Pelapis, and Podium Programme in cooperation with the various sports associations and other stakeholders.
 
Through the Kita Juara 2017 programme, 750 athletes have been selected while 122 coaches were appointed to plan the charge for the 2017 SEA Games.

Khairy has also pledged to strengthen the Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia, boost the SEA Games marketing campaign and amend the Sports Development Act.

His pet project, the National Sports Day, also saw 17,500 activities all over the country with five million people participating last year, not including the 4.5 million schoolchildren.

“There is now quite a lot of interest from the corporate sector to be a part of the National Sports Day this year, scheduled for Oct 8.
 
“We learnt some invaluable lessons operationally, so I hope the 2016 National Sports Day will be bigger and better.”

Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tunku Ja’afar says the organisation will try to get as many athletes to qualify for the Games as it can.

However, they want to be realistic about their chances.

“We are heartened by our badminton players. They are doing well. The medal prospects are going to be the divers and shuttlers.”

Though qualifying for the Olympics on merit is “already good enough”, Tunku Imran hopes he can see many qualifying for the later stages of the Games – and do well – this time around. 

Tunku Imran does not want to put a lot of pressure on Lee, but says Lee knows this is his last chance to win a gold medal.

Participants enjoying themselves at the Kayuhan Hari Sukan Negara at Putrajaya in October. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

 “He must make sure that he peaks at the Olympics. He’s got to be careful for the next few months ... make sure he does not suffer from any injuries or burnout. He should be strong mentally too.”

Khairy says the various sport associations are in communication with the ministry and the NSI about what our athletes can achieve in Brazil.
 
“We have a periodisation plan up for now until the Olympics in August and pre-Olympics camps are being set up and run; target is first gold medal.”

When asked about gold medal prospects, Khairy says keirin cyclist Azizulhasni Awang, Lee and diver Pandelela Rinong are the ones he thinks will win Malaysia’s first gold medal.

However, he says Malaysia is still a developing nation in sports, thus improvement in performance is more important.

“Two-hundred-and-four countries were in London 2012 and of those, 74% did not win any gold and 60% of countries won nothing at all.

“As such, the most realistic targets for Malaysian athletes in Rio is qualifying by merit itself – never mind winning medals.

“Whether they strike gold or not I am hopeful, but I am being realistic as well. But the target to win Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal is Tokyo 2020.”

2017 SEA Games preparations

Veteran sports administrator Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, who is also OCM assistant secretary, says Malaysia has a good track record with abundant experience.
As such, he is confident that the 29th SEA Games in 2017 will be well organised and be one of the best of its kind, if not the best.

Khairy, the event’s organising chairman, says the first phase of the Kita Juara program is ongoing right now under the Working Committee chaired by NSC and NSI for athlete preparation. 

“A total of RM6.8mil has been disbursed from September to December 2015 under the empowerment concept, where the associations are responsible to manage competition and training exposure as agreed at Working Committee meeting.

“We are quite happy to see some positive progress of the program. Twenty three athletes are ranked up to sixth in the world and 55 athletes are ranked first in South-East Asia. 

“This indicates we are on the right track to achieve our overall goal. Coaches must find a way to elevate their team performance to higher levels by using sports science as their main domain.”

The organising committee has also launched the official logo, mascot, theme and volunteer registration in November, with volunteers exceeding 40,000 people since its launch date.

“There are two big objectives: to stage the best SEA Games and Asean Para Games and win the whole thing!”

Hopes for 2016

Sieh hopes that the powers that be – especially those in Govern-ment – practise fair play and transparency, as well as have more respect, trust and consideration for their fellow Malaysians in sports.
 
“I hope 1Malaysia and Malaysia Boleh are not just slogans. I hope they are actually put into practice by engaging more Malaysians – of whatever origin and background – to contribute to the development of Malaysian sport and not be overly dependent on highly-paid foreign sports experts.”

Khairy also hopes for better cooperation with the associations as 2016 will be a very important year in athlete preparation for the SEA Games 2017.
 
“Our mission is to be overall champion. Every one has to come together to do their part in making sure the athletes get the proper training, coaching, and number of competitions that they need to perform their best in 2017.”

Tunku Imran says athletes should dream about how far they want go in sports and try to realise that dream.

“Things will happen through proper planning and strategy. There is no substitute for hard work.

“Practice does make perfect. Sports is not only physical, it’s also mental. Once we toughen ourselves, our dreams will be realised.”