Assistant minister sets directions for local coaches

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Hamsiah (seventh right) and Gordon Kon (sixth right) posing with speakers and participants at the end of the seminar yesterday. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING: The challenge for local coaches is now very clear after they have attended the 5th International Seminar on Sports & Exercise Psychology (ISSEP) that ended at a local hotel yesterday.

In pointing out this, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan said coaches now have to be more scientific and they have to adapt their old ways to bring in new elements into their coaching routines.

“I find it interesting to see some of the sports that we are competing in Sukma, for example, continue to show very poor results even after a lot of money has been dumped into buying the latest equipment and setting up the best facilities.

“Perhaps we should look at the human resources and see if there should be new elements that can be introduced so that these sports will start to produce,” he said at the closing of the two-day seminar.

Snowdan’s text of speech was delivered by the director of Teachers’ Institute of Tun Abdul Razak Campus, Samarahan, Hamsiah Abdullah Masni.

He added that with Sarawak in the midst of preparing for Sukma XIX, he would like to see as much of what the local participants have learnt during the seminar be used to help the athletes maintain or improve on the achievements in the last games.

He also stressedthe importance of a concerted effort by Sarawak Sports Corporation, Sarawak State Sports Council, the National Sports Institute Satellite Centre Sarawak and Institutes of Higher Learning to work together to identify problem areas and issues in various sports.

“These can be provided to the universities and colleges who can use them as research problems that will need to be looked into.

“Findings based on these research will be useful to the coaches and athletes as it would be directly related to their situation.”

He pointed out that the close working relationships between sports agencies and institutions of higher learning should not be limited to organising seminars and conferences but extended into the actual operation and running of a sport. Also present was SSC chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee’s representative Gordon Kon.