Indonesian archers lack motivation: Former star

Indonesian archers lack motivation: Former star

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian archers today lack the motivation to pursue a higher
level in competition, according to former star Donald Pandiangan.

"There seems to be a change in the non-technical aspects on
the part of the athletes. There is a flaw in their competitive
attitude and motivation. They are less motivated to encourage
themselves to step up to a higher level," Donald told The Jakarta
Post on the sidelines of the national archery championship here
on Tuesday.

However, the 1981 Asian champion said that he did not know the
reason. "A psychologist may have to be brought in to identify the
problem," he said.

Donald commented about the current stagnation in Indonesian
archery since its surprising performance at the 1988 Olympics in
Seoul.

An Indonesian female team managed to win a silver but it
appeared to be a one-time bout of Olympic glory by the Indonesian
archers.

Although it still dominates the Southeast Asia (SEA) region,
Indonesia has failed to maintain its performance in the Olympics
or the Asian Games.

Apart from the psychological flaw on the part of athletes,
Donald pointed at the weak development program, insufficiency of
qualified coaches, lack of competitions and low-standard of
equipment as being the other problems with the national archery
program.

He summed up the defects were brought about by a lack of
financial supports.

"To spur the athletes to a higher level, we need not only to
hold local tournaments but also to send them to more
international tournaments as part of a continued program.

"The provinces should be encouraged to be active. But do they
have qualified trainers? Only a few provinces can afford it," he
said.

On the lack of skilled archers, Donald cited a recent student
tournament which featured around 100 young archers but only 12
actually participated in the internationally recognized FITA
event, in part because the equipment is much more expensive than
that used in the Indonesian Archery Association (Perpani) and
traditional events. Most of the student athletes took part in the
Perpani and traditional events.

"It's all about money. We need Rp 2 billion (US$222,222) to
run the program the whole year," he said, while adding that the
next chairman of the Perpani should possess a capability to raise
money.

Besides his Asian championship in 1981, Donald proved to be
the king of archers in the Southeast Asia region during his
heyday between 1977 and 1987, the year he retired as a player.

Donald swept all six gold medals on offer on each occasion of
the four SEA Games in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983. He skipped the 1985
edition before returning to the 1987 event where he won two gold
medals.

As a coach he piloted Indonesia's archers to the silver medal
at the 1988 Olympics with Lilies Handayani, Kusumawardani and
Nurfitriyana Saiman.

Donald, now 57, is responsible for talent scouting at Perpani.