Sports organizations told to solve problems by March
JAKARTA (JP): The National SEA Games training director Djoko Pramono has urged all sports organizations to solve their internal problems before March 1.
Djoko said after a declaration ceremony yesterday that all sports organizations must be able to gather their athletes and start centralized training before March 1. Athletes have been waiting for permission to join training from schools and employers.
"Frankly I haven't checked how many athletes have yet to arrive because Lebaran is still influencing numbers. Perhaps in one or two weeks, I can have complete data on the number of athletes," Djoko said.
Three male spikers - Imam Agus Faisal (nicknamed Fafa), Loudry Maspaitela and Endri Oktavinatono - finally joined the training and are expected to arrive today, he said.
Fafa and Loudry, who work for the state-owned BNI '46 bank, and Endri, who works for Bank Indonesia, had been waiting for permission from their offices to join the training.
The volleyball training chief Soetardiono said the three spikers are expected to join the squad today.
The two banks finally allowed the athletes to join the training after the Indonesian Volleyball Association's chairman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana sent letters to both banks' directors last month.
Soetardiono said national beach volleyball teams must keep an eye on Thailand and the Philippines for the Games.
The association is grooming eight male and eight female beach volleyballers. They are to take part in a selecwion in April after the Asian circuit in Japan and China. The association will only pick two male and two female volleyballers.
Djoko said the National Sports Council's Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar had sent letters to the minister of education and culture, the minister of manpower, the Armed Forces chief and the country's 27 governors requesting permission to allow national athletes to join the training.
Djoko said women's soccer, women's basketball and men's water polo are still having problems gathering their athletes together for training.
Winning
Wismoyo urged all athletes to prepare themselves to take over the overall title from rival Thailand in the Games, which will be held from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19 at the Senayan sports complex.
"Victory comes from 70 percent good preparation," he said.
Indonesia lost to Thailand in the 1995 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, grabbing 77 gold, 67 silver and 77 bronze medals. Thailand won 157 gold, 98 silver and 91 bronze medals.
The 1997 Games will offer 440 gold, 440 silver and 558 bronze medals from 34 sporting events.
Djoko declined to mention the total number of athletes being groomed at the training centers.
The council planned to include 1,543 athletes in its training program but several had withdrawn for school and family business.
The council believes Indonesia would be able to steal the title from Thailand, despite the absence of the song "We must win" at yesterday's athletes' declaration ceremony.
The Games training chairman Togi M. Hutagaol said the song would be played during a ceremony to set up the national contingent before the Games.
"However, our ambition to win the Games has been included in the council's chairman speech and in the athletes' pledge," he said.
Indonesia's best hope is Aprilia Marzuki in the women's judo, who won two gold medals at last year's Games and read the pledge at the ceremony participated by 30 sports organizations. (yan)