Athletic hopes rest on Papua project
Athletic hopes rest on Papua project
According to Hans Peter Thumm, the Papua project is a six-
month scheme consisting of three main activities of talent
identification, talent selection and talent promotion, which
targets students between the ages of 13 and 14 years.
The scheme is applied in seven steps, beginning with a general
introduction of the talent identification system to local
resources, such as teachers and relevant agency officials,
followed by a regional education program for testers.
The first two steps have been conducted and involved 450
teachers from Jayapura, Sentani, Kirung, Biak, Serui, Sorong,
Merauke, Wamena, Puncak Jaya and Timika.
The project is now preparing to enter the third and crucial
step: testing 5,000 students in the 10 areas across Papua.
The screening procedure includes general flexibility, macro
coordination, acceleration, throwing accuracy, vertical power,
horizontal power and endurance.
"Only those who meet the required points will advance to the
next step," Thumm said.
The fourth step involves a three-day camp for qualified
students, during which a maximum of 150 students will be selected
for advancement to the sixth step: a long-term basic training
program at the local Education and Training Center for Students
(PPLP).
The intervening fifth step introduces the basic training
program to PPLP coaches and select regional coaches.
The training will focus on developing basic skills in the high
jump, pole vault and javelin throw, refined skills in sprinting,
hurdling, ball throw with approach run, long jump preparation,
discus and shot put.
It also includes psychological aspects such as motivational
skills, self-discipline and stress management.
The project's seventh step is a competition to assess the
performance of the 150 young athletes, comprising six events: the
long jump, high jump, hurdles, pole vault, short-distance run and
long-distance run, 800m for boys and 600m for girls.
"Unlike what PASI used to do, we will hold the competition
after the selection," Thumm said, referring to the Indonesian
Amateur Athletics Association.
He said accepting students who excelled in track and field as
new recruits usually ended up with a problem: in three years,
unselected students turned out to be better athletes. "It's a
fifty-fifty chance in selecting talents through competitions."
The pilot project in Papua applies a systematic testing and
recruitment scheme that involves as many participants as
possible, which produced a greater chance of identifying more of
the right kind of young athletes, he said.
Physical attributes, such as height, could also be predicted
using simple calculations, as the new recruits were still
growing.
"We can use the scientific method of measuring the physical
characteristics of athletes' parents and calculate their
predicted full-grown height," he said, adding that the specific
growth stage of a student would be indicated in an X-ray of their
bone structure. "It's simple and easy."
If this pilot project was successful, Thumm was optimistic
that it be held again the following year and additional young,
talented athletes would be discovered toward the national
development of track and field. -- Zakki P. Hakim