Parents bank on success of offspring
Parents bank on success of offspring
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
At Asia-Africa Badminton Sports Hall in Central Jakarta,
schoolchildren from around the city showed their budding prowess
on court.
In the stands sat several parents, cheering on their
offspring, perhaps hoping that the event would be a stepping
stone to a full-fledged career.
Scoot over, soccer moms -- here come badminton parents with
great expectations.
"Are you a photojournalist? Come on, take a picture of my kid.
Put her in the paper," a woman in her mid-40s said rather
insistently to The Jakarta Post.
"My daughter has won many tournaments. She was runner up in
the last tournament she took part in Cirebon (West Java)," she
added, pointing to a girl watching a match with her friend in the
upper stand.
The mother, Sulastri, a housewife, wants the child to make it
to the top, following in the footsteps of champions Verawati
Fadjrin from the 1980s and Susy Susanti from the 1990s.
Her daughter, Mega Cahya, 12, is one of the schoolchildren
from about 40 elementary and junior high schools taking part in
the ongoing Milo-Yonex School Badminton Competition (MYSBC).
The event, which ends on Saturday, is the first of five
tournaments to be held through April this year in five cities:
Bogor, Padang, Malang and Manado are the other venues.
Organized since 2002 under the auspices of the education
ministry, the annual competition is hoped to help spark a
resurgence in the country's flagging badminton fortunes.
However, the tournament has drawn little interest. Dahlan, an
official of the Jakarta office of the education ministry, said
there were more than 2,500 elementary and junior high schools in
the capital.
About the small turnout, he said: "Not many schools have
badminton. We invited 75 schools but only 40 participated."
Competition may be thin on the ground, but it has not curbed
the enthusiasm of Sulastri, who said she wanted her daughter to
be the next Susy.
Mega could only smile in response.
Creating a champion of tomorrow is not cheap; Mega's practice
sessions and fees for Tangkas Bogasari, one of the country's top
clubs, run to Rp 2.5 million a month.
Her husband's wages as an elementary schoolteacher are not
sufficient, and the main source of support is a boardinghouse
Sulastri established.
Still, Sulastri keeps detailed accounts of her expenditure on
her daughter.
"It's just in case Mega is a success in the future, I may be
curious to recount how much I spent on building her up."
Odeles Kirawan, father of Putra Eka Roma, is not as forward
about his 10-year-old son's talent as Sulastri. Once asked,
however, he quickly lists his achievements.
"He won the Jakarta championship last year," he said of the
boy, who is a member of top club Jaya Raya.
Imelda Wiguna, head of the talent-scouting team of the
Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), said they were always
on the lookout for talented youngsters, but clubs were still most
important in spotting potential.
"What we can do is try to get in touch with the clubs, so that
they feel motivated in honing the talent of young shuttlers."
Not everybody believes badminton will lead to a better future.
Susy, in an interview with The Jakarta Post last month, said
many parents were reluctant to let their children take up the
sport as a career because there was no guarantee of government
support upon retirement.
Try telling that to Sulastri.