Our future stars deserve a sporting chance

After the victory of the women’s national team against Japan last Saturday, volleyball fever has hit Thailand. The team’s win at the 2013 Asian Volleyball Championship has made Thais very happy at a time when the country faces economic problems and fear of flooding in many provinces.

Overjoyed, many of us still cannot stop discussing the volleyball victory and are still surfing the net to find more information about the players and their superb coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai. Many also follow Facebook fan pages of star players such as Nootsara Tomkom, Pleumjit Thinkaow, and Onuma Sittirak.

The triumph by the women’s team has also made volleyball a rival to football as the country’s most popular sport. The win will certainly inspire many youngsters to follow in the footsteps of our women’s volleyball team.

Thailand can’t compare with China in terms of population. But the team has made the country proud, having proved that with dedicated players and coaches we can excel nationally.

Who knows, perhaps our hope to see the players at the next Olympic Games among the world’s top five volleyball teams may be fulfilled in the near future. But I don’t want these hopes to remain just dreams for the women’s volleyball team. It’s time for the government to lend a hand to help the team reach the next level.

In fact, the government should be more committed to improving all sports for the country. What are the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Ministry (MTOS) doing? What is the policy on sports development in Thailand?

The old saying that ‘sport is a magic medicine’ always

rings true.