Khalid (centre) chairing the Sarawak Sepak Takraw Association’s supreme council meeting in Kuching last Saturday.
KUCHING: Sarawak are in the process of securing a sepak takraw coach from Thailand to boost preparations for Sukma XVIII here next year.
Sarawak Sepak Takraw Association president Datuk Abang Khalid Tan Sri Abang Marzuki said the association is awaiting the green-light from the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) to approve the engagement of the coach.
“We have identified the coach concerned and his name has been forwarded to SSC for assessment and approval.
Upon approval, the Thailand coach will work together with other local coaches to kick off the development programme that we have planned,” he said during the association’s supreme council meeting last week.
Apart from the Thai, national coach from Sarawak Nurudin Pawi will also be training the athletes for the challenge in next year’s Sukma hosted by Sarawak.
Khalid said the coaches’ main focus would be unearthing new talents at the centres of excellence in Kuching (3) and Betong (1).
“With Nurudin and the (new) Thailand coach in our team, we believe our chances of capturing gold medals in Sukma XVIII will be even greater,” he said, adding that the association also hoped to bring Sarawak’s sepak takraw to a higher level where the team will be highly respected by the other states.
Khalid also announced that the association will start to organise divisional and state level tournaments throughout the year. The first tournament will be the Datuk Fadillah Yusof Challenge Trophy for U16 and U20 in four zones in the state.
Kuching will be the first venue for the tournament from Aug 7-9, followed by Sri Aman and Miri while the final will be staged in Sibu from Sept 18-20.
The next one on the cards is the Borneo Cup in Miri from Oct 8-11 and the prestigious tournament Sarawak Cup that offers the Chief Minister’s Trophy in Betong from Nov 11-15.
In exposure for the state sepak takraw teams, the association will be organising the National Youth tournament, a Pre-Sukma competition from Dec 15-20.
At the same time, the state association will also be conducting several coaching and refereeing courses to produce qualified officials for the running of the sepak takraw competition in Sukma XVIII.