KUCHING: Sarawak is set to move away from traditional training methods as a site has been identified for a high-performance centre within the Sarawak Sports Complex in Petra Jaya, with completion targeted within two to three years.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, said the facility will mark a shift from conventional training towards a sports science-driven athletic preparation.
“Gone are the days of sending our athletes to train day and night. Sports science must come in – the kind of food they take and which parts of the body need focus. That is the role of sports science and the high performance centre,” he told a press conference recently.
The state has studied several international models, including centres in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, where athletes undergo specialised preparation such as climate-adaptation training ahead of competitions.
“Sarawak does not have even a single high-performance centre yet. I would like to see it becoming a reality,” he added.
He noted that countries like New Zealand achieved Olympic success through centralised preparation systems, including at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We can have the best Sarawak Sports Complex in Malaysia, but without a high-performance centre, in my observation, it will go to waste. You would just be training using the old ways,” he said.
Negotiations are ongoing with the federal government, particularly the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia (KBS) and the National Sports Institute of Malaysia (ISN), for joint management due to the need for specialised expertise and sports scientists, some of whom may come from overseas.
Abdul Karim said the centre will definitely be built in Sarawak as it is essential for producing athletes capable of competing at national and international levels.
“Because at the end of the day, the good athletes produced from the high-performance centre will represent Malaysia. You don’t expect Sarawak to be spending everything for it,” he said.
