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