Wednesday February 28, 2007
Take sports to the masses
I REFER to to your report “All constituencies to have futsal centres” (The Star, Feb 26).
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said’s statement that all state constituencies will have an open futsal centre is a welcome piece of news.
Even more encouraging is her statement that these centres would also have facilities for other sporting activities as well. It is high time that every district be provided with a sports complex with facilities for all the popular sporting facilities easily accessible to our youth.
Development has taken a heavy toll on all our recreational venues, leaving very little open spaces for sporting activities.
Many of our towns and even schools lack proper playing fields, badminton courts and facilities for popular sports. This has resulted in the deterioration in the standard of sports in our country over the last few decades.
At one time we excelled in many sports like badminton, hockey, athletics and football. Today we are lagging far behind in every sport except badminton, and even countries that were alien to the game not long ago are rapidly overtaking us.
In squash and bowling we can count the number of players who have risen to international excellence.
The Government has initiated numerous projects to uplift the standard of sports but with little or no success.
We have spent millions in building expensive sports facilities and training but these do not seem to bring the desired results.
What we fail to realise is that we are not taking sports to the masses from where real talent comes. The majority of the sports heroes come from the masses and not from the rich and wealthy segment of the population.
Unless we tap the great potentials that exist in the masses, we will not succeed in selecting the best to represent the nation.
It would therefore be more beneficial and cost effective to build numerous football fields, badminton courts and even sports complexes in smaller towns and kampungs, which badly lack these facilities.
Football and hockey tournaments and athletic meets at school and district level that used to be very popular in the 60s and 70s were effective ways to select talented young players for the state and national teams. These competitions are unheard of in most small towns these days.
While sophisticated and high-tech sports complexes are necessary for advanced training, the single most important means of developing a sport and to spot talented players is to take the game to the masses.
Facilities must be made available to them freely or at a cost affordable to them. Selection of the players must be solely on merit, not favouritism.
DR CHRIS ANTHONY,
Butterworth, Penang.
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