Manyin (left) launches the first Sarawak sports psychology book ‘The Essential Sawakian Mental Skills Training – specifically for the Sarawakian athletes and coaches’ written by Dr Garry Kuan (right) from Universiti Sains Malaysia and Dr Chin Ngien Siong (centre) from Institute of Teacher Education Tun Abdul Razak Campus.
KUCHING: The state Youth and Sports Village is expected to be built and completed in the next two years (by 2019) said Minister of Youth, Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong.
According to him, the village would serve as a centralised training centre for talented young individuals and the facilities would accommodate 400 to 500 people.
Manyin said the request was approved by the Chief Minister, and the ministry is working to fine-tune the design and specifications of the facilities to cater for athletes.
The initial proposal was submitted to both the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Kuala Lumpur and the state government, but only the latter responded.
He said this during the launch of the first Sarawak sports psychology book titled ‘The Essential Sawakian Mental Skills Training – specifically for the Sarawakian athletes and coaches’ at IPG Kampung Tun Abdul Razak in Kota Samarahan, near here yesterday.
Manyin added that the eight acre sports village will be built near the stadium compound in Petra Jaya to solve a lot of problems such as reducing the cost of transport since coaches need no longer be sent all over the place to train athletes.
The facility also serves as a platform for athletes to go beyond competitive sports into careers. It will fulfill the state’s aspiration to be a powerhouse for sports.
He said now that the Youth and Sports Village had been approved, the ministry would pursue the setup of a sports school along the lines of Bukit Jalil Sports School.
“I’m going to talk to the Ministry of Education (MoE) if we can turn SMK Demak Laut into a sports school,” he said.
If Sarawak were to have her own sports school, that school must be a high performer with a small teacher: student ratio. We will get experts to work on the curriculum and a time-table for athletes to undergo training during the day and attend classes at night, the minister said.
“Academics is essential as nobody is certain to take sports as a career; this will provide parents the assurance to send their children to sports school. Athletes who don’t pursue sports as a career will have their academic studies taken care of, at least.
“I’m thinking of getting some people from Bukit Jalil to brief us and go overseas to countries such as Australia and South Korea to learn from their sports school.”