Sports associations show low motivation

Sports associations show low motivation

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's SEA Games training director Djoko
Pramono said not all sports organizations taking part in the
training programs for the upcoming SEA Games are highly
motivated.

"This could be observed by the inconsistencies in motivation
shown by officials and athletes at most sports organizations. It
was also found that most motivation is below standard," Antara
quoted Djoko Wednesday.

Djoko gave an example of a certain sports organization which
has already conducted training but uses facilities that are below
the training standard. "At the athletes' dormitory, the
facilities are not suitable for training. Moreover, I did not see
any benches there."

According to Djoko, in order to motivate training, the
athletes' spirits need to be stimulated.

"Particularly when facing Thailand, which has been Indonesia's
main rival, our athletes must stimulate their fighting spirit for
events contested. Thailand's superiority is in athletics,
swimming, gymnastics and shooting," Djoko said.

Djoko gave squash as an example, where the players are not
pushed during training. He said Indonesia has never shown good
performances in squash competitions.

"In the preliminary matches, Indonesia concedes defeat because
our level of playing is far below that of countries where squash
has become a major sport, such as Malaysia."

Referring to athletes withdrawing from training, Djoko said he
will personally approach the sports organizations concerned with
those athletes.

It was reported that three cyclists and five pencak silat
(martial art) athletes have withdrawn from training.

The three cyclists are brothers Herry Janto and Hengky
Setiawan, and Tubagus Mohammad Maulana. They left the training
center because they wanted to concentrate on their work.

"It is a pity that the cyclists and pencak silat athletes left
training at a time Indonesia is aiming to overtake Thailand as
the overall champion title," Djoko said.

Thailand won the overall champion title in the 1995 SEA Games
in Chiang Mai by grabbing 155 gold medals. Indonesia was a
distant second with 77 golds and the Philippines with 33 golds.
(lnt)