IPOH: More women should take up the challenge at coaching shuttlers in the elite level.
This is the belief of the Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) junior women’s singles coach K. Sylvia Kavita.
Sylvia is currently only one of two female coaches in the BAM set-up with the other being Amelia Alicia Anscelly, who is guiding the junior doubles shuttlers.
The 29-year-old, who was appointed last year, said: "Women coaches are needed more than we think and gender stereotypes should not be allowed to limit our potential to influence and contribute to the sport that we love."
"I’m the youngest female coach in BAM now. In my opinion, I feel it’s better to have at least one female coach guiding each women's department.
"Somehow or rather, I feel that gender plays a role. Players tend to look more towards female coaches for emotional support."
Sylvia feels that having female coaches will provide a good balance for the players along with male coaches.
"Coaches guiding players on the technical and tactical aspects are of course very important," said Sylvia.
"Sometimes, it can get very difficult though as we always talk about the game only and don’t talk about the emotional side of things.
"Some players are technically good but they struggle to control their emotions and their minds which leads to them being unable to perform well on court.
"So, I feel it’s good to have the balance (between female and male coaches)."
Sylvia knows the challenges faced by women players as she was in their shoes once.
She was a player in BAM until 2013 under former coaches Wong Tat Meng and Indonesian Rony Agustinus before deciding to quit the sport to further her studies.
Sylvia studied in University Malaya (UM), then went on to pursue her Masters in Exercise Science in Germany.
"When I was a player, I didn’t have any female coaches guiding me (and it was not easy)," said Sylvia.
"Then, I wanted to study while playing but I was not allowed to do so, so I decided to quit the sport.
"While I was studying in UM, I also started coaching in an academy called Duo Sports with another former national player Daphne Ng.
