KUCHING: Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and Sarawak Football Development Programme (SFDP) should be communicating with one another on common issues which affect both parties.
One of the urgent issues which need their attention is the present dismal performance of the state’s President Cup squad.
Better known as the Young Crocs, the team is still languishing in second last of the league’s table standing after having lost the recent match against Kelantan 0 – 3 at Kota Bahru, Kelantan.
Todate the state juniors have lost four out of their five matches played and drew one at home.
With no prospects of getting out from their predicament, the Young Crocs are seemingly playing only as the whipping boys of the President’s Cup league.
For the record, SFDP is run under Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS) which provides the funding and manpower support while FAS can be seen as the client and the end user of the junior football talents coming out from the programme.
But a few of the exemplary juniors had already been snapped by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and three were recently recruited into the national Harimau Muda B squad while Asri Chuchu was duly returned to the state after he was injured.
President’s Cup team manager, Haidel Heli recently also disclosed that the prospect of getting their good players back is slim but he is willing to let them go with the national side in order to get exposure and experience.
But FAS president, Datu Sudarsono Osman on Wednesday had expressed his concern on the quality of players which SFDP had been supplying to the state junior squad.
According to him, even though the quantity of players available for the junior squad is commendable but he is more concern with the quality aspect of it.
Perhaps he is not aware that the good ones are easily snapped by others and the leftovers are what the state had to be contented with.
In this respect, the state football supremo should go direct and communicate with the top brass of SFDP and MSNS on what are expected from the two in the near future.
Perhaps when the three parties are singing to the same tune, Sarawak can actually start to keep the good junior footballers for themselves and not to let them go that easily.
Sarawak has the right to keep their good players because this is where they started from.
Good communication between the relevant parties can actually ensure that everyone gets to achieve and attain their Key Performance Index (KPI).
Only then Sarawak football at both the senior and junior level can equally progress and ensure the bright future local footballers can look forward to in their playing career.
Local fans who are paying good money for football entertainment deserve only the best from the home teams taking on the challenges of the senior and junior leagues.