Amran wants to teach basketball to juniors

JAKARTA (JP): The year 1999 might be considered a special one for Amran A. Sinta, after he managed to take his team, Mahaka Satria Muda (SM), to the top of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama national basketball league on Sunday.

The 27-year-old father of two could not hide his joy and awe after the referee blew the final whistle and the score board displayed the 57-46 victory for his side. He shed tears with the other players under a small fireworks display at the Senayan indoor stadium.

He was then declared the 1999 Most Valuable Player and received Rp 200,000 from Kratingdaeng energy drink.

"I'm very proud of this result. I'm impressed with the other team members, who were high-spirited and were willing to work hard to win this match," he said after the game.

Although he is currently working as a basketball player at SM, he said he wanted to seek a promising job in the legal profession. Amran graduated from the School of Law at the privately run Pancasila University in 1998.

"I won't tell you how much my salary is in my club. Let's just say it's over Rp 1 million. It's enough to pay for my daily spending, but I am not satisfied with the amount," he said.

"I wish to find another job which suits my educational background. Mahaka has also groomed me to train the junior team. I think I will have two jobs then."

Amran said that he was impressed with the training method at his club.

"It has a professional management. We are not only trained to play but we are trained to live. We learn about sportsmanship and dedication in the training."

The Darma Bakti Mahaka foundation took over the management of Ades Satria Muda in March this year and changed the club's name to Mahaka Satria Muda. SM only finished 10th in Kobatama in 1998 and, surprisingly, it made the final four this year.

Amran was born in Makassar, on Nov. 18, 1972. He learned basketball when he was accepted into the basketball team in his junior high school at state-owned SMP 77, Central Jakarta.

The sport might be his vocation as he was also admitted into the basketball team when he was in the first year of senior high school at the state-owned SMU 30, also in Central Jakarta. Amran was the youngest member of the team.

In the same year, he was hired by a local basketball club, PORCI in Cikini, Central Jakarta. Later in 1995, SM recruited him into its junior team.

"When I was a child, I wanted to become president. I love playing soccer," he recalled.

Amran is married to Cut Muna Nursifatayad and has two sons, Andi Arief Rafi, 4, and Andi Rizki Dwiputra, 2. (ivy)