More attention to local sports clubs needed

Born on the banks of the Kali Malang river in East Jakarta in November 1928, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar is a veteran swimming trainer and leading sports figure. Siregar, who used to swim together with his friends in the man-made river, has trained several respected swimmers like Kristiono Sumono, Lukman Niode and Gerald P. Item, who dominated the swimming pools in the 1977 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. The Batak Siregar, who cannot speak Batak, headed the West Java contingent at the National Games until he was appointed secretary-general of the National Sports Council. Siregar is still active in the council and the office of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports as an expert assistant. The Jakarta Post interviewed him on the development of sports, in particular the National Games (PON). Tomorrow, the week-long PON XIV will start.

JAKARTA (JP): Like many other sports analysts, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar is critical of the performance of Indonesia's athletes at international sports events.

"I'm what people call a perfectionist because the standards I use are not domestic but international," said Siregar.

He argued that Indonesia's dismal performance at the recent Atlanta Olympic Games indicates that the sports council does not use world standards and still lacks professionalism.

In Atlanta, Indonesia managed to win only one gold, one silver and two bronze medals from its only medal hope, badminton, as compared to its achievements in the Barcelona Olympics four years ago, when the country took two golds, two silvers and one bronze, also in badminton.

"Therefore, we must set our priorities for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and I suggest that we concentrate on three sports, namely badminton, boxing and weight-lifting," Siregar said.

When asked about archery, which contributed a silver in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Siregar said it must prove that it can really compete in world-class events before applying for Sydney as it has recorded declining performances after Seoul.

He contended that the three sports showed a relatively good performance in the last Olympic Games. Badminton proved Indonesia's mainstay again, while boxing and weight lifting were stable among the best ten.

"In the weight lifting, we have good organization and good programs, and Indonesia has always ranked tenth. So they have already positioned themselves well. If we push them a little harder, they might contribute medals," Siregar said.

Boxing, on the other hand, has always ranked eighth among the participating countries in the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Indonesia has many fertile breeding grounds for boxers, including Irian Jaya, Maluku, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra.

He said La Paene Masara and Hermansen Balo, who made their boxing debuts in Atlanta, are still likely to contest in Sydney as long as they are nurtured continuously. He contended that La Paene could have collected a bronze medal in Atlanta if he had been well-prepared. "We had a bronze-category boxer, but we missed the strategy."

Badminton will remain Indonesia's best medal hope in Sydney, but the Indonesian Badminton Association should speed up its efforts to recruit and prepare fresh talent to replace the existing players, who will have already passed their peak in the coming one or two years, Siregar said.

Indonesia, he continued, must also set its sights on the future, not only for the next four years of the Sydney Olympics.

"For 2004, we may prepare two more sports to contest in the Olympics. If we succeed, it will be a success story for Indonesia," Siregar said.

In addition to the Olympic Games, Indonesia should pay closer attention to and set targets for the Asian Games and the SEA Games.

Indonesia should prepare 12 sports for the Asian Games and 25 sports for the SEA Games.

"Selecting what sports to prioritize is simple. If you want to contest in the Asian Games, you must get Gold in the SEA Games first. And if you want to contest in the SEA games, you must secure Gold at the National Games (PON)," Siregar said.

Therefore, in the context of grooming world-class sportspeople, PON has its own significance as the first major selection ground for prospective athletes.

Siregar, however, expressed his dissatisfaction over the last few National Games, which were the venue of physical clashes among contesting athletes, instead of fair competition for the highest performance, because of the low quality of referees and umpires and the unprofessional arrangements of the games.

"Therefore, for this coming PON XIV, the Jakarta administration should introduce new things to attract the attention of the people ... If not, I'm afraid there will be less and less people watching such events," he said.

He suggested that the committee of the PON XIV, which will be opened tomorrow by President Soeharto, take care of all details of the events, including transportation, venue arrangements, games schedules and catering.

"Don't let it happen again. Boxing contested without audiences, good catering early on getting worse towards the end, schedules changed suddenly and so on. These things make people grumble," he said.

The PON, Siregar said, should be pursued in the spirit of selecting the best athletes to contest in the larger games, not showing the dominance of certain provinces.

In the national context, PON is a barometer to measure how far local administrations and local people put their efforts on nurturing local sports clubs to produce world-class athletes.

"Local sports clubs should serve as training grounds for prospective sportsmen. If not local sports clubs, where else?" he remarked.

He said local administrations, and the central government, should pay closer attention to local sports clubs, including those at schools and universities.

"Looking into the life of sports in local areas, I'm quite pessimistic," he said, arguing that in many places, the number of sports grounds is diminishing.

On the other hand, the government, through its political statements in the 1993 state guidelines, stipulates that sports shall be used as a means to develop the nation's human resources.

"Have we been successful in this matter? Don't only talk, the people want proof," Siregar said.

"A lot of money has been invested in sports development, but where are the achievements?. People are getting bored because sports development requires money but there are no significant achievements."

He called on members of the National Sports Council to put aside their partisan interests and double up their effort to nurture Indonesian sports.

When there are significant international achievements, they will no longer burden the council, in terms of budgeting, because they can be sold to the private sector, Siregar said.

In order to sell sports to private investors, first of all, the sports must have a large audience; many people watch them, many people talk about them. In order to have a large audience, the sports must provide an attractive, interesting and entertaining show, with good performances and glittering athlete idols. (team)