KUALA LUMPUR: The Kidslympic Games Malaysia is being targeted to become an annual affair following the enthusiastic response in efforts to produce new sports talents.
Kidslympic Malaysia co-founder Goh Liu Ying said the Games, for children aged between five and 12, had attracted over 3,000 participants for the six sports events - athletics, football, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and obstacle course.
"Yes, there is an increase compared to last year, when only about 1,000 to 2,000 children competed," said the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games silver medal winner Liu Ying, at Stadium Merdeka on Oct 12 (Sunday).
"This could be because we went to schools nationwide to inform them of the Games for children aged below 12."
She added that the introduction of the running programmes held in connection with the Games in several states also helped towards increasing children's participation.
"Perhaps this is the first year (for the running events), so we are still new at it. So, the highest number of participants is from Selangor.
"So, they said that it was because of the running events that they came to know about Kidslympics. We hope that next year we can have more running events in places like Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan," she said.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Ministry Development Division secretary Amir Hamzah Awang Ghazali expressed support for the Games.
"In conjunction with the National Sports Day, we hope it won't be just a one-off programme but will always be a culture. It's not just for associations, but other parties will also organise such programmes," he said.
Earlier, the Games received a RM60,000 sports matching grant from the Youth and Sports Ministry. - Bernama
