Shalin continues a-MACE-zing run to provide best support for athletes

Making a point: Shalin speaking during the International Safe Sport Symposium.

PETALING JAYA: Bowling legend Datuk Shalin Zulkilfi has been busy as a bee since taking charge of the Malaysian Athlete Career and Education (MACE) secretariat at the National Sports Council (NSC).

But the need to educate the current batch of athletes is keeping her going.

While there are improvements in some areas since focusing on three core matters – education, career and welfare, Shalin still feels many are still lacking the urgency in preparing for their retirement.

“We need to have more athletes interested to help others and we also need them to be able to prepare better for their retirement like how they prepare for competitions,” said Shalin.

“It’s very important for athletes to be proactive in regards to post retirement and plan now for time after sport. Our athletes prepare for it too late.

“Preparing for retirement does not mean that the athletes are retiring at that time, but it’s good to have a head start, prepare for what they plan to do... we have many options.”

Shalin is however happy with the greater interest in athletes to pursue tertiary studies and those wanting to equip themselves with sports science knowledge.

“I’m glad that this year we were able to mediate for athletes to get into either local or international universities,” said Shalin.

“Sprinter Mohd Azeem Fahmi, for instance, we were able to facilitate his move to Auburn University, and there were a few others too.

“About 20 of them received scholarships to enter universities and the minimum passing rate at the Bukit Jalil Sports School had increased this year.”

“The turnover from athletes to coaches is also higher this year. For example, our top karate exponent R. Sharmendran is now a national head coach.

“This year, we also had about 80 athletes who participated in the Sports Science Level 1 and 2 courses over three sessions. And all of them have passed and are equipped to transfer knowledge at the grassroots level.

One of main themes this year had been on safe sport too, said Shalin.

In fact, they conducted a safe sport Tour this year, where they visited 11 states to educate the masses.

“About 3,000 athletes benefited from this, and now are aware of what safe sport is,” she said.

They also had organised the International Safe Sport Symposium in Subang from Dec 11-12, which saw many high-profile speakers highlighting the importance of safe sport.

“Through this symposium, we were able to provide a bigger perspective on safe sport, and on how to handle cyberbullying, victims of sexual harassment and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) safe sport best practices.

“It has been a busy two years since I joined MACE but I’m happy to see some of the positives this year,” added Shalin, who is looking at raising the bar even higher next year in terms of providing service for the athletes.