Ragunan school trains RI's best as athletes

JAKARTA (JP): The joy greeting gold badminton medalists Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja who beat the Malaysians in Atlanta was marred by disappointment that the women's single team only managed to bring home a silver.

Emotions run high in badminton because it is the only hope for medals in international events, while other sports are left far behind.

At the center of criticism of this chronic problem is the training system.

The impression is that high standards stop at the junior level -- largely limited to one institution, the Ragunan Sports School in South Jakarta.

The Ragunan Junior and Senior High School, set up in 1977 by former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, provides academic education, sports training and dormitory facilities to students.

Ragunan presently has over 135 students from all over the country, recruited through what the management claims to be objective selection criteria.

The school is designed to provide training for talented athletes in athletics, gymnastics, diving, archery, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis and badminton.

Students train between 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every school day. Regular classes are held from 8:30 a.m. to noon, or to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays.

"The Ragunan Sports School is still the best for polishing young, talented athletes," Kussairi, the school principal said.

They need to foster academic skills, he says, because "Indonesian athletes cannot expect to rely entirely on their sports skills as a source of income."

He recalled a trip to Italy where the students trained at Sampdoria Football Club.

"The teachers, with financial support from the government, came to the Italian club's headquarters to hold an examination," Kussairi said.

He says he cannot understand why promising soccer players, for instance, fail to perform at the same level by the time they enter senior soccer clubs.

"There must be something wrong with the training system," he said.

Kussairi, who ends his term later this month, points to Ragunan's success with the Indonesian Student Football Team. The team has won the Asian Student Football Tournament four times, and often ends up a finalist.

Given the contrast with the performance of the senior soccer players, the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) should discuss the problem and study it thoroughly to come up with a solution, Kussairi suggested.

Similarly, the junior volleyball team educated in Ragunan made it to the semifinals in Asia, but the senior team flunked the Southeast Asia Games.

Sri Sudono Sumarto, the director of sports under the Directorate General of informal Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, also stresses that the failure of graduates is not the responsibility of either the Ragunan School and the country's students' sports training centers.

"We suggest sports organizations like PSSI work together with the student training centers," Sudono said.

Apart from the lack of training centers, support for those academics and sports training is rarely found outside Ragunan school. After graduating, athletes face the twin dilemma of finding a job and improving their performance. Only a lucky few get jobs where the management allows them enough time off for training and competition.

In the last few years, a few academic institution have started to provide scholarships for athletes, meeting both needs.

Meanwhile Ragunan itself is set on improving and expanding its facilities.

The government has promised the school Rp 11 billion (US$4.6 million) for renovation. The 13.5-hectare plot will be expanded to accommodate educational, training and dormitory facilities for up to 600 students.

To build on Ragunan's success, repeated calls from concerned sports fans and athletes have urged greater contribution by the private sector to grooming athletes.

Mentality

Business tycoon Probosutedjo conveyed his views to Raket tennis magazine recently.

He said he wants to send tennis players overseas, where facilities and training are better.

"However, so far there are no young players who have the mentality to become professionals. We sent players to the United States but they were more interested in academic studies," Probosutedjo said.

Still, private clubs should be founded to support the government schools and centers.

An official of the Indonesian Chess Association, Eka Putra Wirya, has established the first private chess school, Enerpac, to train the younger generation.

Another private center, the Detex tennis school has produced a number of champions from the lower income group -- Feby Widyanto was one of the members who made it to the eight-person-strong national team this year.

Ragunan's exceptional graduates also owe their advanced training to private clubs. Among these are badminton queen Mia's senior Susi Susanti, gold medalists Ricky and Rexy, and tennis player Yayuk Basuki.

In tennis and badminton, prizes worth millions of rupiah from serial tournaments help to motivate them.

Discussions on the provision of more facilities to groom athletes are underway.

But Kussairi insists that at the high-school level, the Ragunan model must be spread elsewhere.

"Potential athletes come from the regions," he said, "So more schools like Ragunan must be established at the regional level," he said. (imn/yan)