No talent scouting system in RI: Thumm
No talent scouting system in RI: Thumm
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With a population of about 220 million, Indonesia has the
potential for international sporting success but lacks a system
of identifying athletic talent, a German athletic expert said on
Tuesday.
Hans Peter Thumm, speaking to The Jakarta Post after the
announcement of the Indonesia-Germany partnership on sports
development in Jakarta, said Indonesia had a huge number of
athletes.
"But you have no system to find them. And this is why we
(Indonesia-Germany) are working with schools," he said.
Thumm, 55, is in Indonesia for a two-year contract, which
could be extended for another two years. The partnership, which
coincides but is unrelated to the arrival of German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder for a two-day state visit on Tuesday, relates
to cultural agreements signed in 1985.
Toho Cholik Mutohir, the director-general of sports at the
Ministry of National Education, told a media conference that the
partnership would focus on the development of basic sports at
schools with the main goal of finding talent across the country.
"Mr. Thumm will work as a consultant for two years. If deemed
impressive and successful, we may go for another two years,"
Toho, who is also deputy chairman of the National Sports Council
(KONI), said.
Thumm said he would need four years to identify talent, saying
the first step to helping develop sports would be to empower the
people.
"I study the situation. Based on the study, data and
information, we will build a four-year strategy, which will be
realized point by point.
"With the strategy, we always start with the education of
people as without manpower you can't run any system. That means
conducting training for teachers, development of programs will be
the first step," he said.
"After four years, there will really be development. Once you
have established the strategy and the people are educated, then
you can go to the second step; that is to select talent
throughout the country.
"We want to start slowly but with quality and end up with the
results," he added.
Thumm, whose arrival in Jakarta follows a four-year stint in
Malaysia, said many sports associations were not aware of the
significance of basic sports development with high-level
performance.
"The old saying from international experience is that if you
want to produce one Olympic winner in a particular event, you
need in this particular event about 700 talents.
"The broader the base you can build, the more chances you have
to end up at the top," Thumm said.
Thumm's job will involve traveling throughout the country to
select between 600 to 700 talented athletes.