Getting to the root of the problem (The Malay Mail)

THE FA of Malaysia (FAM) are getting themselves directly involved in the
grassroots development of the game.
 And they have to as the State FAs, whose very job it is to handle it,
have made little headway on their own.
 The FAM have received much unsatisfactory feedback on the development
programmes of State FAs.
 One of the features of development stressed by the FAM was monitoring
the setup of State academies. Till now, all States have fulfilled that aim
except for Sarawak.
 But running the academies has been quite an arduous task for the State
FAs. Checks by the FAM on the state of the academies and their running of
them have exposed some alarming shortcomings.
 Among them are:
 * Poor selection of players and cases of favouritism;
 * Unqualified coaches handling the academies;
 * Lack of proper playing fields for the academies;
 * Insufficient number of players and difference in age and mix.
 Last Tuesday, FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah, who is also the
Technical and Development Committee chairman, visited the Kuala Lumpur FA
Academy at the Bandar Tun Razak Stadium for a first hand view of the
facilities.
 Though he was generally satisfied, Tengku Abdullah felt there was still
much room for improvement - not only in KL, but all the academies
throughout the country.
 One urgent change needed is for the academies to be more comfortable and
spacious. Tengku Abdullah noted that the KLFA Academy was a little
cramped.
 He said FAM's direct involvement in grassroots development was to ensure
that everything is run smoothly in the State FAs.
 "The panel of coaches with the Technical Department will assist in the
selection of players for the Academy. This is to ensure that only the best
in all the different age-groups in each State are in the Academy," said
Tengku Abdullah.
 That comment came after Razip Ismail, a former KL and international
defender, one of the two KL Academy coaches along with Tang Siew Sing,
voiced his concern that the best players were not in the Academy.
 The selection was already made before the appointment of Razip and Siew
Sing. They called for the talent pool to be widened as the number of
players in each age group now under their wing was far from sufficient.
 There are currently 30 players in the KL Academy - five players from
Form Five, nine from Form Four, five from Form Three, six from Form Two
and five from Form One.
 Tengku Abdullah assured that the intake of players will be increased
next year.
 An extension programme is on the cards where several more schools will
be included in the programme to increase the number of players in each
age-group.
 These players will not be based in the academy but attend training. The
FAM will keep a close eye on the selection process to ensure that only the
best is picked.
 "As this is a long-term investment we want to see results. For that to
happen, everything has to be done professionally," said Tengku Abdullah.
 "Incompetent coaches will be replaced."
 Tengku Abdullah urged the State FAs to seek the assistance of their
respective State Governments or Local Town Councils in acquiring vacant
land to build more playing fields.
 KL, in particular, is facing a shortage of playing fields.
 "The FAM will assist in whatever way to acquire land once the State FAs
have identified them and forwarded their requests to the State Governments
or Local Authorities. We'll also be looking at school fields to utilise
them," he said.
 "Ideally, we would like the State FAs to run their academies. But the
current situation requires us to step in and see that all plans are
carried out smoothly."
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