KUCHING: The 5th International Seminar on Sports and Exercise Psychology (ISSEP) 2018 is a platform to inculcate research culture amongst coaches.
The seminar is being held at the Grand Margherita Hotel for two days which was officiated by the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah yesterday, representing the Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“A country that has a sporting culture will have athletes, coaches, sports administrators and experts that are well versed in the various aspects of sports.
“They would be very competent and knowledgeable about the sciences involved in making a successful athlete as well as the planning and developing of specialised training programmes.
“This level of internal competency and motivation is what we are striving to achieve. Once our sportsmen and sportswomen become not just competitive athletes, but intelligent, dedicated, motivated, ethical and professional athletes, then that’s when we are on the right track.
“An athlete, a coach, a sports administrator who is driven by his desire for a sport will be much more capable of being competitive internationally,” said Johari in his speech text read by Karim.
He added that the seminar was an excellent opportunity for coaches to gain as much knowledge as possible, establish networks with the speakers as well as among themselves, and be prepared to apply some of these newly found skills and know-how into their daily routine.
“We are excited to see our national athletes doing well in international competitions, bringing back not only medals but glory for our country.
“While these athletes are the cream of the crop, provided with the best training, facilities and support, what we should never forget is that it is the coaches at the grass root level that are one of the most important contributors to our nation’s pool of athletes,” he disclosed.
Among the countries involved in the seminar include South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.
