S’wak to set up high performance centre after Sukma
The centre is to keep the injuries of the athletes down during training
SANTUBONG: Sarawak will be setting up a high performance specifics athletes centre after Sukma XIX in Perak this September.
Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee, who disclosed this yesterday, said the centre will be housed at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatics Centre in Petra Jaya.
“The main idea of establishing this centre is to keep the injuries of the athletes down during training and looking at the wellness of a younger athlete to give them quality training which has not been done in Sarawak in the past.
“Our high performance centre manager Andre Richards, who is head of the strength conditioning unit, will design a specific programme for the final preparations for Sukma and later on after Sukma will oversee the programme to set up the high performance centre,” Ong told reporters after officiating the opening of the Final Preparation Workshop For Sukma XIX Coaches at Damai Beach Resort Hotel here yesterday.
According to him, the high performance centre will be based on the New Zealand concept.
“We are following the New Zealand concept because they have been very successful in producing Olympic gold medallists,” he said.
For a small country with a population of only 4.7 million and producing 18 medals comprising four golds, nine silvers and five bronzes at the last Olympics in Brazil which Ong said was a tremendous achievement given the size of her population.
He said the key strategy was to create an environment where the coaches are educated on training and the centre will have support staff while more foreign coaches will be brought in.
“We are looking at a high performance culture as Sarawak are aiming high to achieve its target as sports powerhouse in 2020.
“By then, Sarawak will be pushing to produce 50 per cent of the national athletes and by 2024, no Sarawak athletes will be attending sports schools at Bukit Jalil as all sports facilities will be established in the state,” added Ong.
On the final preparation workshop for the coaches, Ong said it was aimed at developing sports science and creating the awareness to help the coaches reach higher performance.
“It is also our aim to get coaches to think of strategies as well as keeping them equipped with the knowledge of sports science which include a wide range of subjects such as getting the knowledge of periodization, recovery, nutrition, psychology so as to get the maximum from training.
“The main idea is to get them to understand sports science.
“As we are aiming to the nation’s sports powerhouse, it is vital for the coaches to be more concise on their knowledge of knowing when to get the athletes to peak so as to get the maximum performance during competitions,” said Ong.
At the workshop, coaches can sit down to establish processes with a high performance culture in mind and also to plan their strategy and learn how to facilitate their plan.
A total of 32 coaches and 12 sports coordinators are attending the two-day workshop conducted by Andre Richards and SSC Team Sports unit head Chong Siew Kian.
The main idea of establishing this centre is to keep the injuries of the athletes down during training and looking at the wellness of a younger athlete to give them quality training which has not been done in Sarawak in the past. — Dr Ong Kong Swee, SSC chief executive officer