A sports development programme is in the pipeline for athletes in Sarawak that 21 years old and above; who are still eligible to compete and perform at a higher level of competition.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Senior Elite Development aimed to prepare Sarawak Elite athletes to get ready for future SEA Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Olympic Games and more.
“It is to give support and guidance in the aspect of high performance training, coaching by qualified coaches, allowances and other requirements needed for the elite athletes to achieve success in high level championship beyond Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA).
“Through the Senior Elite Development Programme, we are planning to produce another five Olympians to make up eight Olympians from Sarawak by 2030.
“At the moment, we have Datuk Pandelela Rinong in diving, Bonnie Bunyau Gustin and Jong Yee Khie in para powerlifting,” he said.
When delivering his ministerial winding – up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today, Karim said the Sarawak Sports Development Programme (ProPS) would embark into a more aggressive and systematic approach as the country enters the COVID-19 endemic phase.
The programme, he said, was designed based on Long Term Athletic Development Model (LTAD Model) with the hope that Sarawak can deliver athletes that can sustain in long term instead of short- term achievement.
“This also to support Sarawak sports’ vision is to become the Nation Sport Powerhouse, which also required detailed planning and to be executed with sustainable results,” he explained.
As of now, there are 369 Sarawak Sports Development Centres throughout the state, including 299 Pusat Permulaan (PEP) with 3,997 athletes and 299 coaches, and 70 Pusat Cemerlang (PEC) with 1,521 athletes and 70 coaches.
Karim said the numbers will steadily increase with the upcoming of more Sports Development Centres throughout Sarawak, especially in the districts and divisions that have yet to have a Sports Development Centre. Meanwhile, the Program Elit Remaja (PER) managed by the Sarawak Sports Council, were in the final stage preparing for SUKMA.
