Parental support is vital to sport success

Bill Price | 22 August 2016 Share

Over the past two weeks the Rio games has provided lots of conversation starters about Malaysian sport development and raised many questions about how Malaysia can produce more high performance athletes. A few weeks ago an editorial in The Star noted that out of Malaysia's almost 30 million population the hope of the nation was focused on just 4 athletes with the potential to medal in Rio. The point was that based on its population Malaysia should be able to develop a larger number of elite athletes.

But population numbers are only a rough metric of potential sport success. There are many countries with smaller populations than Malaysia that excel in sports. The Netherlands (16 million) and Hungary (10 million) have both produced Olympic medalists. The key number is not population but rather the number of athletes in a sport. In other words, how many athletes are actually participating in training?

Malaysia's population can support a strong surge toward Olympic success. 30 million is a large enough number to build successful sport programs. But we must work to get more young athletes involved in sports. Sports that they can participate in year round and not just at specific times of the year.

As a foreigner living in Malaysia I find it unusual that long-term sport participation hinges on whether or not a child is good, shows promise, and thus may have the abilities to make sport a career. Many youngsters who participate in sport leave it prematurely because their parents simply didn't see a future in it.

I think that the mindset in Malaysia sees sport as a career option and if one is not a good enough athlete then there is little reason to participate in organized or coached activities. It's more important not to waste time on things that would otherwise take away from academic endeavors. Thus, some youngsters spend very little time in sport activities because someone has decided that they are not really good enough to continue.

Sport participation should not be looked on as a career launching pad. The percentage of youngsters who will actually become professional athletes is so low that it's not worth discussing. But by participating in sport one learns to love physical activity, they learn skills needed to participate in their culture (I'm still learning the best strategies to use in selipar terbang), and they are likely to use those skills throughout their lives.

Large, youth sport programs will form the foundation of future sport success for the country. This will increase national pride but it will only affect a small number of athletes who actually reach the top. By far the more important result of youth sport programs is creating a healthy citizenry. Imagine how Malaysia could reduce the burden on its healthcare system if people stayed active and healthy as they aged.

Active, healthy parents will raise active, healthy children and soon Malaysia will have an older population that appreciates physical activity for its own sake. An added benefit is that within a generation Malaysia will have more elite athletes than it knows what to do with.

But this has to start somewhere. Long-term sport participation is not the norm right now. Changing this is possible but not easy. But the benefits Malaysia can gain from large youth sport programs make it worth a try.

Parents are key to this participation. If parents don't see the value of having their children involved in sport then little progress can be made. No matter what programs or ideas the government or sport associations come up with parents will remain the gatekeepers of sport opportunity, sport participation, and, in the long run, Malaysian sport excellence.

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Bill Price is the Chief Information Officer at USSA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.