Against All Odds
Louis Pang is used to telling stories. A writer and professional photographer in his early career, he told stories with his pen and from behind the lens, capturing each detail and nuance to give them colour and life. Today, he is telling another story, one that is destined to be his most personal and lifechanging yet.
Saddled with a recurring back problem since his mid-twenties, Louis had to occasionally take months off work when the pain was aggravated through long hours of work. Faced with the choice of back surgery or exercise to strengthen his back muscles, he chose the lesser of two evils. He thought swimming was too boring so he decided on cycling, a decision that would eventually
change the course of Sabah’s track cycling future.
In the five years since he took up cycling, Louis has charted a path for Sabah cycling in a way that no one could have ever imagined. Having completely embraced cycling both as a curative and competitive sport, he was all fired up to explore the fast and exciting realm of track cycling in Sabah – except there was none. Sabah had no track cycling team, no velodrome, and no agenda. Participating in national competitions was almost cursory and even then, it was only to be beaten and come back empty handed.
To say everyone was blindsided when Louis decided to become a cycling coach to change the status quo would be putting it mildly. Despite getting his Level 2 coaching certificate from UCI (the world governing body for sports cycling), the naysayers were critical of Louis’ ability to put together and coach a bona fide track cycling team in Sabah.
Proving them wrong was secondary to knowing he was right in setting this almost unbelievable goal. When he became a part-time coach with the Sabah Sports Council, his wife Jasmine saw how much he enjoyed working with the young athletes and the satisfaction
he got from seeing them grow and realise their potential that she stood by his decision to finally wind down his 12-year photography business to pursue being a full-time coach.
“Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of International Olympic Committee once said, ‘The important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.’ In cycling, we struggle more than we triumph. We lost many races before we started to win. The public sees our crowning moment on the podium but few see the pain we go through to get there. To be part of this journey of struggles and a few triumphs, fires up every fibre of my being,” says Louis.
The team culture inculcated in Sabah’s current team of young cyclists, all of whom are between 17 and 19 years old, is one of trust, respect and support. To have all these so strongly embedded into the psyche at such a young age is a triumph Louis can look back on with pride not only as a coach but as a believer in their courage to challenge themselves to give and be their best. They have proven time and again, on the track and on the podium receiving their much deserved medals in competitions, that discipline and a great work ethic will keep you on the right track to success.
Keeping them on the right track meant that Louis had to continuously challenge himself to learn, design and execute his plans which have yielded incredible results to date—but he is not resting on his laurels just yet.
“I don’t consider myself successful. Not yet,” says Louis who has set the bar pretty high for himself.
“I am relentless. Any advantage I can get my hands on be it training methods, recovery practices, aerodynamic gains, bike fitting, equipment or mental edge, I would pursue it. I look for small things I can improve.”
“I would love to coach a national side one day. I’ll be going for my UCI Level 3 coaching certificate in Switzerland in October but for now, I just want to focus on doing my job well. “
Now coaching full-time, Louis has beaten all the odds to get him this far and with his dogged determination, I wouldn’t put it past him to accomplish anything he sets his mind to do in the future.