SELANGOR: The emergence of gold medallists and record-breakers among Sarawak’s Para SUKMA debutants has given the state fresh confidence in its efforts to unearth the next generation of sporting talent.
Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the achievements showed that the State’s talent identification efforts, particularly through the Talent Identification (TID) initiative, were beginning to bear fruit.
“Although they are first-timers, some of them have managed to win gold medals and not only gold, but they have also broken records.
“This is certainly a very encouraging development and gives us the motivation to intensify our efforts to identify and develop more new talent,” she told reporters after witnessing the para athletics events here yesterday (Sept 7).
Fatimah said the progress of the new athletes also demonstrated the importance of providing young athletes with the right training, exposure and opportunities to develop their potential.
She hoped wider media coverage of opportunities in Para sports would encourage more parents and families to view sports as a platform for developing the potential of persons with disabilities (OKU).
“The achievements of these new athletes show that they do not necessarily need many years of experience to excel.
“With the right training, exposure and opportunities, they can develop much faster,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Para Athletics head coach Matthew Chin Hiong Choi said the achievements showed that Sarawak had a promising pool of young athletes capable of developing into future representatives of the State.
He said it was particularly encouraging that some of the young athletes had already produced competitive performances despite still having plenty of room for improvement.
“We are very pleased because we have a group of very young athletes who still have many years ahead of them to compete.
“They have already started breaking records, and this is a good indication that we will not run short of athletes to represent Sarawak in the future,” he said.
Matthew added that continued exposure at major competitions would be important in helping the young athletes gain experience and build confidence as they progress in their sporting careers.
