A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

With her nearly three-decade long career in professional bowling and deep understanding of the world of sports, there is no one better to assist athletes when it comes time for them

to l eave their sports careers. Shalin Zulkifli, a former World Champion and Asian Champion, has many proud achievements during her ti me on the national team. Picking up bowling at age nine, she j oined the team in the l ate 1980s and began competing from the early 1990s. Among her achievements were being the first female to win the World Tenpin Masters in 2001, being inducted into t he International Bowling Hall of Fame in 2004, and being the most successful bowling athlete at the Southeast Asian Games with her 20 gold medal win.

She now lends her exper tise – as the head of the National Spor ts Council’s career branch, a position she has held since January 2022 – in helping retired and retiring athletes build a dif ferent career af ter spor ts. She of fers a fresh perspec tive as not only does she have experience as an athlete, but also as Assistant Secretary of the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress, President of the Athletes’ Commission of t he Olympic Council of Malaysia, and coach for Selangor in SUKMA. Acknowledging that the problem lies in most athletes being unprepared for life af ter spor ts, she and her team are working on raising awareness of this and preparing athletes for a life that will no longer revolve around struc tured schedules consisting of long hours of practice and focused only on winning competitions.

To anyone planning to enter the world of professional spor ts, she advises, “Stay strong and surround yourself with good people.” She relates how when she first star ted, she would be criticised for being too young. Yet when she grew older, she was criticised for being too old, especially af ter she had gotten married and had children.

“Power means being confident in yourself, believing i n yourself, without having to prove it to anyone else,” she firmly asser ts, in line with her motto of believing in oneself even when others don’t. “You're going to have a lot of naysayers who will tell you that you can’t do it,” she elaborates. “But t here is no point in telling t hem of f. The best way is to prove t hem wrong t hrough your achievement. At the end of the day, what counts is the result.”

“The best way is to prove them w rong through your achievement. At the end of the day, what counts is the resu lt.”