RI must prioritize socialization of athletics and swimming
By Primastuti Handayani
JAKARTA (JP): The sports community has long known that track and field is the mother of all sports. That is why the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has ruled that track and field is one of four sports which must be featured in multisports events. The other three sports are swimming, gymnastics and shooting.
With 46 golds at stake in track and field and 38 golds on offer in the swimming pool at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Indonesia has long been at a disadvantage because of its relative weakness in these two sports. Thus the country has been forced to rely on combat sports, including karate, pencak silat and tae kwon do.
The Indonesian contingent finished in a disappointing third position at the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei with 44 golds, 43 silvers and 58 bronzes. The results were in stark contrast to the country's convincing victory at the 1997 Games before its home crowd, when it captured 194 golds, or 44 percent of the total number of gold medals on offer, 101 silvers and 115 bronzes.
A telling statistic, Indonesian SEA Games athletes this year only managed five golds, 11 silvers and three bronzes in track and field, and five golds, three silvers and 10 bronzes in the pool.
The results were a bitter disappointment, with National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar earlier expressing hope Indonesia would retain its overall Games title.
As it turned out, Thailand took the title with 65 golds, 48 silvers and 56 bronzes, while Malaysia took second place with 57 golds, 45 silvers and 42 bronzes.
Many people were shocked by Indonesia's poor form in the Games, not only KONI officials but also officials from neighboring countries' sports organizations. There were questions as to whether Indonesia's economic woes had impacted sports development in the country.
KONI was only able to provide Rp 12 billion (US$1.7 million) to prepare and send its contingent of athletes to Brunei. The money came from the National Development and Planning Board, which gave Rp 5.5 billion, the Gelora Senayan Management Board (Rp 4.5 billion) and donations from state enterprises (Rp 2 billion).
KONI's difficulties in raising funds for a centralized training program indicated that the government and the public were not focused on developing and supporting the country's sports programs.
In other countries, governments provide for their athletes' every financial need in multisports events. But in Indonesia, KONI is forced to seek the aid of the government and the private sector to cover expenses.
Track and field
Nobody can deny that a country which dominates track and field has the best chance to dominate the overall medal tally in multisports events. Thailand and Malaysia have realized this fact and are working hard to raise the performance of their track and field athletes.
KONI, however, failed to catch on to this trend. Wismoyo mistakenly tried to realize his ambition to retain the overall Games title, an ambition which proved to be preposterous, by focusing on sports which could be dominated by national athletes.
With only five track and field golds in the last Games, the country's athletes failed to match their performance in the previous Games, when they took eight golds.
However, some young athletes showed promise in the Games, including women's sprinter Irene Truitje Joseph, who took the gold in her event by upsetting favorite Trecia Roberts of Thailand, and Nunung Jayadi, who set the new men's pole vault Games record by jumping 5.05 meters.
With KONI demanding track and field athletes show improvement, the Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association's (PASI) newly reelected chairman, Muhammad "Bob" Hasan, has a lot of work to do.
Hasan, who has held the position of chairman since 1978, is expected to improve the performance of his athletes by sending young athletes such as Irene and Nunung to study and train in the United States.
Hasan, a timber tycoon and an associate of former president Soeharto, said after his reelection that raising funds for the development of track and field in the country would be more difficult than in the past, as many of his business associates had turned down requests to financially assist PASI.
A source in PASI, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he had sought sponsorships to send a number of athletes to the United States to study, but he could not get Hasan's approval for the plan.
"I think he doesn't want anybody else to get credit for sending potential athletes abroad. But it's really bad for the athletes, as Irene has been requesting a scholarship to study in the States for at least two years," the source said.
However, Hasan and his new officials deserve the time and the chance to improve the development of sports in the country. One way they may be able to do this is by staging competitions which last for one or two days instead of the current four days. This would follow a similar move by the European Grand Prix series.
"Nowadays, people are really busy and if we stage track and field competitions for four days nobody will show up at the stadium. I plan to stage regular competitions for only one or two days with only 12 events instead of 46," Hasan said.
PASI and KONI also must work in conjunction with the Ministry of National Education to introduce track and field in schools. Most schools in Indonesia, particularly in larger cities, do not have multifunction sports fields on which students can play and practice.
State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mahadi Sinambela said he urged every district to set up a modest sports field, which would be certified by the government so it could not be sold to developers.
Mahadi said it was necessary to introduce sports to children in housing complexes, particularly basic sports such as running and jumping, which are part of track and field.
By spreading the love and enjoyment of sports to more children in the country, PASI and KONI will have no difficulty recruiting athletes in the future.
Swimming
The same situation also faces Indonesian athletes in the pool. Indonesian swimmers, mostly veterans of the national program, managed to win five golds at the SEA Games this year, compared to the 11 golds they secured in 1997.
The presence of veteran swimmers such as Richard Sam Bera, 28, at the SEA Games proved that younger swimmers have yet to surpass their elders in Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian Swimming Federation's (PRSI) newly reelected chairman, Rahardi Ramelan, faces the same challenges as Hasan in raising funds.
"Swimming is an impossible sport to sell because athletes are always under water, and even when they show up they are wearing goggles. It's not easy to televise swimming events even if we use underwater cameras.
"I prefer to encourage big companies to sponsor clubs in order to develop national swimmers. I will also urge swimming competition organizers to feature groups for nine and 10 year olds in an effort to seek young talent.
"Besides the children, parents will definitely come to the pool to cheer their children on and it will make the competitions interesting," Rahardi said after his election.
He also said officials of PRSI's technical commissions must concern themselves only with improving the performance of the athletes, not raising funds to finance competitions.
PRSI realizes it lacks younger athletes to replace veteran swimmers. Currently there is Steven Chandra, Akbar Nasution and Hendrik Eko Putera on the boys' side and Siripiya Sutanto on the girls' side, but they need more experience before they can be expected to compete with the older swimmers.
Sending athletes abroad to study and train, particularly in the United States and Australia, is now prohibitively expensive for PRSI. Before the monetary crisis hit Indonesia in mid-1997, PRSI was able to send 10 swimmers to study and train in the U.S. and Australia. In the middle of 1998 Rahardi was forced to call them home due to the fall of the rupiah against the US dollar.
With its limited financial capacity, PRSI must optimize its coaches' technical skills in order to train athletes at home.
Mahadi put forward the idea that PRSI could work in conjunction with the private sector in providing international- standard swimming pools in housing complexes, open swimming schools in provinces and stage more competitions throughout the country.
He emphasized introducing the sport to as many children as possible was important for Indonesia to be able to recruit young talent in the future.
KONI's tasks
The poor showing of Indonesia in this year's SEA Games and the inability to develop track and field athletes and swimmers pose a great problem for KONI, and demand the sports council focus its attention on developing these sports in the country.
National athletes must dominate track and field and swimming if Indonesia wants to regain the overall title in the SEA Games and improve its position in the Asian Games.
Lack of funds has long been pointed to as the main factor behind Indonesia's failure in multisports events. KONI has found it difficult to raise funds to train and send athletes to multisports events since the 1996 Olympic Games.
However, KONI's main task is developing sports in the country and allow national athletes to achieve greater success in international arenas, not lobbying ministers and businesspeople to financially assist KONI.
KONI has a media and promotions division and perhaps 2000 will see this division raise funds from the public through various programs of their own design.
One possible way to raise funds would be by producing and broadcasting public ads on TV stations and in newspapers. The ads could convey the message that Indonesia used to be great in sports in the 1960s and 1970s, but national athletes no longer enjoy the same level of success and need support from the private sector and the public to reverse this downward trend.
However, this would require the public to trust the honesty of KONI officials, most of whom are retired Army generals, in handling donated funds. KONI has still not published its yearly audited financial report, which should have been printed in newspapers some months ago. Clearly, the organization must improve its transparency before it can expect to see donations from the public.
KONI also has to urge sports organizations' provincial chapters to replace those chairmen linked to financial and political scandals across the country, including Indonesian Wrestling Association chairman Andi M. Ghalib, Indonesian Tennis Association chairman Tanri Abeng, Indonesian Karateka Association and Indonesian Contract Bridge Association chairman Gen. Wiranto and PASI chairman Bob Hasan. It should also be mentioned that KONI chairman Wismoyo in not untainted in this regard.
The allegations surrounding these men will cast a shadow over national sports, and the public will lose whatever trust it has in sports organizations and their commitment to developing sports in the community.