A SPORTS culture needs to be embedded in our school system. In the 60s and 70s, school was fun and sports and games played an important part. Are our schools or the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) or Schools Sports Council doing enough to identify and develop potential athletes for the country? During my time in school, whether in primary or secondary, it was compulsory for all students to take part in track and field events, cross-country runs and inter-house games. Our Physical Education (PE) teachers were passionate and committed to providing the students the right exposure and opportunities to excel in sports. Through their guidance and encouragement, talented sportsmen and sportswomen were produced. These PE teachers were from the Specialist Teacher Training Institute, Cheras (STTI). Now the STTI is never even heard of. Sport is an enabler to develop leadership and discipline, competitive spirit and teamwork among our students from all walks of life, as a family unit. Students took great pride in contributing points for their house and the good ones represented the school, district and state with the outstanding ones, the country. There were no incentives, it was through sheer hard work, perseverance and honour. Many who came through the school system in the 60s and 70s were from Negri Sembilan schools such as St Paul’s Institution, King George V, Tuanku Muhammad School, Convent Seremban, Sekolah Tinggi Port Dickson and Rantau Secondary School. They produced sportsmen like the late Datuk Punch Gunalan (badminton), Tan Sri Ghani Minahat, Chow Kwai Lam, P. Ramachandran (football), Brian Sta Maria, Stephen van Huizen, Colin sta Maria, N. Palanisamy, Franco D’cruz, Lawrence van Huizen, Graig Nunis, James D’cruz (hockey), A. Ramasamy, S. Sabapathy, Harginder, J.V. Jayan (athletics) and many others including the writer. Other talents include V. Angamah, G. Shanti, Datuk Zaiton Othman, Mohamad Ariffin, Zambrose Abdul Rahman, Datuk Nashtar Singh and the late Istiaq Mobarak. The list can go on. Why the sudden dearth of talents from our school system? The philosophy “one student one sport” limits talent profiling and identification and the emphasis on academic excellence takes priority over sports. Apart from the lack of support, there are limited opportunities in employment for the sportsmen and sportswomen. It is important that MSSM, the National Sports Counci (NSC) and the 57 national sports associations (NSAs) work as partners to unearth talents from the schools at state and district level. They should conduct coaching courses for the PE teachers to equip them with the appropriate skills and knowledge and to re-energise the schools by promoting a sports culture with the aim of finding the next generation of stars. C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU Seremban 3 older messages
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:22:26 +0000
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