Where are our sports champions?

Where are our sports champions?

The country marks National Sports Day on Sunday as most of its
best athletes compete in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala
Lumpur. Indonesia has consistently done well in the Games, but it
is still struggling to produce international caliber champions.
The Jakarta Post's Ivy Susanti looks at what must be done to put
sports development on target.

JAKARTA (JP): It's a disturbing question that comes up again
and again whenever one takes a long, hard look at the state of
Indonesian sports.

Why has no internationally acknowledged great sportsmen or
sportswomen ever emerged from a country with a population of 210
million people?

If we look on the streets, the "prospective champions" are
there, playing soccer, badminton and volleyball.

But, somehow, in the sports system, they fall through the
cracks, except in the traditional Indonesian mainstay of
badminton or exceptions like the talented Yayuk Basuki, a top
tennis player in the 1990s.

As a country, Indonesia is no longer even the sports champion
of the region. From its debut in the SEA Games in 1977, Indonesia
consistently was overall medal champion, but it has slipped in
the last few years.

It was dealt its biggest blow in 1999 in Brunei, when it was
third in the medal table behind Thailand and Malaysia.

Sports official Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar and sports
observer Fritz E. Simandjuntak said the problem was the lack of
cooperation between those who are involved in developing sports:
the government, the sports organizations, clubs and schools.
Moreover, all of them seem to lack vision toward a long-term goal
of making sports a potential career choice.

Of course, it takes money to produce a champion, and many
sports organizations cry poverty in their efforts to groom
champions, particularly after the crisis struck in mid-1997. They
usually appoint powerful military figures or businesspeople as
patrons in their fund-raising efforts, although some critics say
the involvement of non-sports professionals in the running of the
organizations is one of the problems with the system.

Some athletes, like Wimbledon junior girl's champion Angelique
Wijaya, received full financial support from their parents.
Others, such as Angelique's fellow tennis players Wynne Prakusya
and Yayuk at the outset of her career, have been sponsored by
businesspeople.

But Siregar argued that money was not really the main problem
in Indonesia's poor sports development.

"Why should they (the sports officials) always talk about
financial shortages? Because they can't make the sport a
profession! The sports organization's duty is to produce
achievements which can be sold, not only to hold meetings.

"In Europe and the U.S., sports organization are self-
supporting because they can sell the athlete's achievements.
Here, sports organization always cry about money without showing
any significant achievements. This attitude is like a mental
disease."

The 72-year-old former coach and assistant to the office of
the state minister of youth affairs and sports said that sports
officials could learn from other countries how to manage a sport
so it can have a selling value.

"We need a new vision. The vision must be shared by everyone
involved in sports development," he said.

Fritz, also the National Sports Council (KONI) head of sports
business and industry, shared Siregar's opinion, but also showed
concern for the athletes' long-term welfare.

"It's time for sports to be a medium for athletes to move into
higher mobility, which means to improve their standard of living.
Indonesian sports, whether they are professional or not, must be
able to provide alternatives for all the actors in the sports
community to be able to move higher," he said in a telephone
interview.

He said some sports still could not manage to provide athletes
the tools they needed to improve their lives because they did not
have a vision and a mission.

"Sports organizations must have the vision to improve the
welfare of the athletes and the people who are involved in
sports. If the sports officials have it, they will focus their
programs in that direction and do whatever they can to fulfill
that. They may improve their management and think of how to stage
a profitable competition where everybody gets a share and their
athletes can get money, become celebrities and be wanted by world
sport organizations," said Fritz.

He said the vision must be launched as a national movement
started by the government.

"The government should make policies that support the
movement. For example, the government can ask top schools to
admit 10 percent of national athletes in the new semester. It can
also ask state enterprises to accept 1 percent to 10 percent of
the athletes at their companies."

"Clubs are the spearhead for sports development. They must
yield achievements so the sports can attract investors. If the
clubs do not have money, they must concentrate on how to provide
a good training program for the athletes, and let their sports
organization hold the competition. If they can sell the athletes,
they can attract sponsors."

Siregar said that sports development must begin early, in
kindergarten and elementary school.

"The challenge is how to introduce sports through physical
education in a play atmosphere in line with the child's
intellectual and physical development. After that, they will find
sports indispensable in their life," he said.

"The government and society must facilitate this condition, so
they can contribute to physical education. Parents must also
exercise with their children. What's the use of physical
education in schools without parental support?" he said.

Siregar also said sports should reach out to the villages.
"Get out there with a new vision! National Sports Day is not only
celebrations in big cities but must also include villagers."

The country could also look to its neighbors.

Thailand and Malaysia both have developed long-term training
projects. In Thailand, the government does not provide large
amounts of financial support but it attracts children to sports
with extensive facilities, as well as scholarships and a small
allowance to cover expenses.

It also has a special research center, the Thai Athletes
Evaluation Committee (TEAC), devoted to sports development.

Malaysia launched the Gemilang Project to groom young athletes
in 1998, with the aim of finishing first in the Games on home
soil this year.

Professionals

Creating champions can also only come about by making all-
around professionals who can also compete outside of the sports
arena, experts say.

Although some Olympic gold medalists like Susi Susanti, Alan
Budikusuma, Ricky Subagja, Rexy Mainaky, Candra and Tony Gunawan
from badminton do not have to worry much because of the huge
bonuses they received for their achievements, others are not so
lucky.

Some athletes, especially those from low-income families, find
it difficult to deal with the pressures of money and fame. Others
find themselves struggling to survive once their glory days are
over and they can no longer rely on their sports organizations.

In February, national boxer La Paene Masara turned to
professional boxing after the Indonesian Amateur Boxing
Association (Pertina) failed to provide him with a job.

In a dialog aired by RCTI private television station prior to
the Indonesian's contingent departure to Kuala Lumpur, senior
men's pencak silat fighter and former world champion Abas Akbar
reiterated the call for the government and sports authorities to
provide the athletes with training and jobs rather than bonuses.

"Don't give us the fish but the hook. We're glad to receive
bonuses and cash for the medals we win, but the most important
thing is to give us jobs, and also training and education, so we
can keep on training without any worry about our future.

"We are not only looking for bonuses by being an athlete, but
we give what we can for the nation in the sports arena," said
Abas.