More attention to local sports clubs needed

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)