Longevity does not necessarily mean legitimacy

IN Malaysia, we love our long serving leaders. Presidents who cling to their chairs, directors who treat boardrooms like retirement homes, and coaches who become permanent fixtures in the sports hall of fame.

But here’s the inconvenient truth: longevity does not necessarily suggest credibility. Sometimes, the longer you stay, the more obvious it becomes that you should have left yesterday.

Take Peter Cklamovski. His tenure with Harimau Malaya was shorter than a TikTok trend, ending after his stint was plagued by the forgery scandal.

The so-called revolution has ended, and he is better off enjoying the scenery around Salford Quays in Manchester.

His exit allows the national team to move on after a scandal that embarrassed a nation.

Then there’s Cklamovski’s fellow Australian, John Beasley, the cycling stalwart who has been here so long he has permanent resident status.

Two decades of service, countless medals for Datuk Azizulhasni Awang, and yet, unfortunately, I do not think many juniors have made it past the transition phase.

For every Azizulhasni, there’s a Firdaus Zonis — a golden boy at junior level who vanished.

Too often in Malaysia, we forget that credibility is measured not in the length of a resume but in the systems built, the athletes developed, and the legacies sustained.

The question is not whether talent exists – it clearly does – but why so many bright sparks flicker out before they can light up the velodrome at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, or Olympics.

Azizulhasni, Josiah Ng and Fatehah Mustapa may be exceptions to the rule.

But consider the roll call of names that once shone at youth level – Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran, Shariz Effendi, Syamil Baharum, Hamdan Hamidun, Mohd Fattah Amri Zaid, Azrul Taufik Anuar, Mohd Fakhruddin Daud and of course Firdaus.

Elder brother of Fadhil, Firdaus was a golden boy at the 2014 and 2015 Asian Championships, winning gold in keirin, sprint and 1km on both occasions.

He was a world junior keirin silver medallist to boot. Syamil broke Azizul’s junior records 200m flying lap and 1km and bagged the treble in the ACC junior category in 2008.

Yet when the time came to step onto the elite stage, the transition never materialised.

Is this due to a broken pipeline, despite the sweat and sacrifice of local coaches working with limited resources, or individual weaknesses?

Former France cycling head coach Herman Terryn offered a glimpse of what fresh energy could achieve.

Hired in 2023, he worked hand in glove with junior coaches nationwide, nurturing riders like Sawda Hasbullah, Mohd Luqman Haqim, Adib Andhar, Yu Jin Liang, Nurul Akhma Atiqah, and Nur Umairah Qhaisara, as well as endurance prospects Mohd Adam Hakimi, Afif Darwish, and Mohd Danial Hakim.

Terryn’s collaborative approach empowered grassroots coaches rather than overshadowing them.

Yet, just as momentum was building, he left the country – whether by choice or by design, nobody seems sure.

His departure is a reminder that credibility can be built quickly, but continuity requires institutional support.

Will his charges make the cut eventually? Will elite coaches polish the uncut gems into diamonds? The philosophical underpinning is simple: in sport, decisions must serve the collective good, not personal agendas.

Grassroots and elite coaching must be partners, not rivals. Recognition must be shared, and continuity must be sacred.

Every athlete has an expiry date, just like entertainers. But that expiry should be determined only by the natural arc of performance. When grassroots coaches raise their hands in a town hall to suggest tweaks to the system, the response should be openness, not punitive show cause letters.

One of those coaches had helped nurture Azizulhasni at Bukit Jalil Sports School, reminding us that the rider from Dungun once competed in both sprint and endurance before specialising at 18.

His proposal – to expose youth cyclists to multiple disciplines before narrowing focus – was aimed at building technical understanding and tactical nous for every track rider before they start specialising.

My fear is that if the culture of pandering to a few at the expense of the silent majority persists, the velodrome will one day echo not with cheers, but with the silence of what might have been.

*The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.