Norza named first recipient of new sports leadership award

KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria has been selected for the inaugural Sports Leadership Award in conjunction with the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM)-100PLUS 2022 Awards ceremony to be held next Tuesday (Sept 5).

SAM vice-president Hazreen Mubarak said Mohamad Norza, who is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, had shown his firmness in dealing with issues concerning the administration and management of national sports bodies.

“His leadership quality cannot be denied. We hope this award will motivate Tan Sri Mohamad Norza to continue with his efforts to elevate sports bodies in the country,” he said in a statement Monday (Aug 28).

Mohamad Norza assumed the BAM president's post in 2017, replacing Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, who stepped down on health grounds.

Under his leadership, Malaysia has scored various successes at the international level, including winning the country's first world badminton championships title through men's doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik last year.

At the same time, his initiative in introducing the key performance indicator (KPI) and merit-based assessment for senior players saw the emergence of young talents like singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia, Aaron-Wooi Yik and women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah.

At OCM, Mohamad Norza introduced several initiatives, including transparent selection for athletes going to major games and rejuvenation of the OCM Athletes Commission (AC), including the award of grants and participation of AC representatives in OCM Executive Board meetings.

Mohamad Norza's leadership excellence was not limited to the national level as he has been made Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sports for All Committee chairman and honorary president of Badminton Asia.

Apart from recognising athletes who excelled last year, the SAM-100PLUS 2022 Awards ceremony will also honour sports journalists with cash prizes worth more than RM50,000.

There are six categories of awards for journalists, namely Best News Report (Print Media), Best News Report (Electronic Media), Best News Commentary (Print Media), Best News Commentary (Electronic Media), Best Special Report (Open) and Best Sports Photography.

The best overall winner in the Sports Journalism category will be conferred the Siebel Award, which carries a RM7,000 cash prize and trophy. - Bernama