KUCHING : The Sarawak Armwrestling Association (SASA) plans to introduce the sport of armwrestling in every school in the State. SASA president , Matthew Dominic Barin said development at the grassroots level is crucial in the development of the sport. “It is important for us to develop this sport starting at the grassroots level with an early focus on schools,” he said, when leading the SASA delegation visit at SMK Sekolah Sukan Tabuan Jaya (SSTJ) and SMK Batu Lintang recently. He pointed out, as an example of what world champion, Devon Larratt’s who had begun at his young age in the sport.
“In addition, we also want the management of the sport to be implemented properly on a constitutional basis,” he added. In this regard, Matthew hoped that responsible parties like schools are willing to work closely with SASA by providing the best platform as exposure to students which are seen to be very important to attract students to involve in armwrestling sport. “We also plan to set up an armwrestling club and will discuss with the Sarawak Education Department about it,” he said, adding that this sports is very important to be revealed at the grassroots to discover new talents in the future. Meanwhile, Devon commended SASA initiative in introducing the sport at schools.
“It’s a perfect start because arm wrestlers are not strangers in today’s world of sports that are increasingly popular and played around the world,” Devon said.
The nearly one-hour programme was also attended by 383 students who took the opportunity to mingle with Devon. Besides demonstrations on arm wrestling, Devon with SASA delegate also held some friendly matches with students. In the afternoon, Devon and SASA held the same programme at SMK Batu Lintang. Also present were SASA deputy president, Stephen Kee Chu Kiong, principal of SSTJ Edward Ngelai and principal of SMK Batu Lintang, Bakhtiar Affandi. – By Faizal Bujang
