Great expectations shadow foreign coaches<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former English soccer player Peter Withe arrived here in 2004
\nas a man on a mission.<\/p>\n
After a successful stint coaching in Thailand, including
\nsteering the national team to gold in the 1999 Southeast Asian
\nGames, he took over responsibilities as Indonesia prepared for
\nthe Tiger Cup -- the most prestigious soccer tournament in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Although the team lost in the final in January to Singapore,
\nWithe had succeeded in lifting up the team's sagging fortunes.<\/p>\n
\"My goal in Indonesia is actually simple. It's not to win this
\nor that but to improve the standard of soccer in here,\" Withe,
\n53, said.<\/p>\n
\"When I look at the country and the players who played in the
\npast, I see great potential here.\"<\/p>\n
As with other coaches brought in from abroad, the weight of
\nexpectations is great. Withe, who is on a four-year contract with
\nthe Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI), said the emphasis on
\nachieving goals was understandable.<\/p>\n
\"The reason you have been brought in in the first place is
\nthat you are good at your job, so you have to show that.\"<\/p>\n
Foreign coaches are nothing new in the local sports community.
\nIn the 1950s, PSSI hired the legendary Toni Pogaknik of
\nYugoslavia, who coached Indonesia to the 1956 Olympic Games in
\nMelbourne, where the team held the mighty Soviet Union to a 0-0
\ndraw.<\/p>\n
South Korean Oh Il Nam has worked with the Indonesian Tae kwon
\ndo Association (PB TI) for the last two decades, and the
\nIndonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI) recently employed
\nChinese coaches An Zhenghua to train its women's players and Li
\nQijiang to coach the men.<\/p>\n
In local competitions such as the Indonesian Soccer League,
\nthe Indonesian Basketball League and the Indonesian Volleyball
\nLeague Proliga, a number of clubs have also hired foreign
\ncoaches.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Bowling Association (PBI) also plans to hire an
\nAustralian coach.<\/p>\n
Withe, Oh, who coached his athletes to the 2004 Olympics, and
\nLi, whose team won the 2003 Southeast Asian Games gold, have
\ndemonstrated success, but others came and went without making a
\nlasting impression.<\/p>\n
Boxing coach Carlos Penatte Torres of Cuba failed to reach the
\ntarget of bringing home medals from the 2002 Asian Games and
\nwomen's volleyball team coach Michio Fujiwara of Japan also came
\nup short in her goals.<\/p>\n
Success is not just about taking a tried-and-true template
\nfrom home and repeating it here. For however skillful or
\naccomplished he or she may be, a coach must deal with other
\nvariables once on Indonesian soil, from the mundane, such as the
\nlanguage barrier, to more difficult issues of dealing with an
\nentrenched sport systems.<\/p>\n
Oh believes tae kwon do has improved immeasurably in the last
\n10 years, with Indonesians now able to hold their own against his
\ncountrymen, the men in the sport.<\/p>\n
There are still problems, including finding new athletes,
\nerratic practice schedules and lack of international competition,
\nand Oh said foreigners were able to help out in improving the
\nsport.<\/p>\n
\"Local coaches are good, but as they only work on a voluntary
\nbasis in tae kwon do, they could not help develop tae kwon do in
\nIndonesia at the maximum speed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As with all expatriate workers, ultimately coaches are
\nsupposed to be able to transfer their knowledge to local
\nemployees. PSIS Semarang soccer coach Bambang Nurdiansyah
\nacknowledged that he had already learned much from observing
\nWithe and the national team in matches.<\/p>\n
\"But we must be sure that foreign coaches have excellent
\nachievements before they come to Indonesia to minimize the (risk
\nof) failure here.\"<\/p>\n
Former world top 20 tennis player Yayuk Basuki, who worked
\nwith Czech Jiri Waters in the early 1990s, admits there was a
\nrocky period of adjustment for the two.<\/p>\n
Waters was already with Pelita Jaya club but, Yayuk said, the
\nother players were unreceptive to him. She asked club patron
\nAburizal Bakrie if she could work exclusively with him.<\/p>\n
\"In the first six months, we always fought, because he didn't
\nunderstand our culture, but then he started to understand about
\nliving here and about me,\" said Yayuk, 34.<\/p>\n
\"Eventually, he was my coach on the court, but he was a friend
\nand father to me off it.\"<\/p>\n
She cautioned that looking abroad was not a guarantee of
\nsporting success, especially with the heavy cost involved in
\nsalaries and living expenses.<\/p>\n
\"It depends, because we need to know what level we are, and
\nalso take into account the financial aspect. Even though a player
\nmay think they need a foreign coach, a local coach may be enough
\nfor what they need.\"<\/p>\n
Withe, perhaps from his experience in Thailand, seems to
\nunderstand that fine line in providing constructive guidance
\nwithout steamrolling over egos and discarding everything that
\ncame before.<\/p>\n
\"As a foreign coach, you have to make sure that you are going
\nwith the flow,\" he said. \"You try to change things, but don't
\njust come in there and say, 'I want it this way'. You have to
\nchange their outlook but also look at what's good for Indonesia.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/great-expectations-shadow-foreign-coaches-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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