Friday, 8 November 2013

States to use sports science in search of excellence

All the states in Malaysia can now utilise sports science as a tool to improve the standard of their athletes after the MoU between NSI and State Sports Councils was signed Thursday in Kuala Lumpur. - Filepic
All the states in Malaysia can now utilise sports science as a tool to improve the standard of their athletes after the MoU between NSI and State Sports Councils was signed Thursday in Kuala Lumpur. - Filepic

PUTRAJAYA: It was a significant day for the National Sports Institute (NSI), after its chief operating officer Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 12 State Sports Councils (SSCs) at the Youth and Sports Ministry on Thursday.

The MoU marks the start of a more structured way of enforcing sports science approaches in all states - with the ultimate goal of strengthening the grassroots programme.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who witnessed the MoU signing, tasked all the states with embracing sports science as a tool to improve the standard of state athletes.

“With this working understanding between NSI and the SSCs, the NSI will now be able to extend their expertise in sports science to all the states. It is the states’ responsibility to train and identify talent at state level and now, they will have the sports science support to do so,” said Khairy.

The move is also expected to see the gradual increase in work opportunities for sports science experts in the states.

Except for Sabah and Malacca, all other states signed the MoU. Sabah and Malacca are expected to join the partnership later after they finalise the venue details for their centres.

Meanwhile, Khairy said that the issue regarding the selection of high jumper Lee Hup Wei and 400m hurdler Noraseela Khalid for the Myanmar SEA Games squad has been resolved.

The issue arose when Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) did not want to send Hup Wei and Noraseela because they did not meet the Games’ qualifying mark for their respective sports, but the National Sports Council (NSC) proposed they be included based on past excellence.

“Noraseela has informed us that she is not competing. As for Hup Wei, the NSC gave him a chance to prove himself at the Pahang Open but he chose not to attend the tournament. So, both are not going for the Games,” he said.

Khairy informed that he has another matter to resolve - a velodrome for the national cyclists.
With the velodrome in Cheras being abolished by next month and the Class 1 velodrome in Nilai being completed only in two to three years’ time, the national cyclists have nowhere to train.

“I met up with the officials from the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). Without the velodrome in Cheras, the cyclists will not have a training ground. I will now look at a training velodrome in Kuala Lumpur for the cyclists,” he added.



by Rajes Paul - The Star

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