TALENT TAP WAITING TO BE TAPPED

TALENT SCOUTING THE WAY FORWARD

By Tony Mariadass

PHILIPPINES, former Gintong Alay executive director, Michael Keon, hit nail on is the ill of sports in many developing countries including Malaysia - lack of talent scouting.

Keon, who was largely responsible for the rise of Philippines sports through his Gintong Alay project in the the 80s, gave his unsolicited advice to Philippines Sports Commission (PSC) chairman, Richard Bachmann,  after the former paid tribute to the greatest athlete he has ever produced from the grassroots program - the late Lydia deVega-Mercado.

It was reported in The Philippine Star today, Keon the incumbent mayor of Laoag City, had emphasised PSC that concentration should paid to talent scouting, in during his tribute speech for De Vega-Mercado, who elevated by the Philippines Sportswriters Association to Hall of Fame status during its awarding rites at a leading hotel on Monday night.

De Vega-Mercado, the fasted Asian Women for eight years - 1982-1990 (holder of 100m with 11.28s in Sea Games - 1987, 1991,1993 - and 200mm- 23.25second - from 1981, 1983,1987 and 1993 -  and Asian Games two gold medalist (1983  last year after battling with cancer.

“There’s so much talent in Philippines sports and that is why when chairman of PSC came to visit me in Laoag, we talked to one another about what is most important when it comes to Philippines sports now and I made suggestion to him that PSC along with National Sports Associations (NSAs) should concentrate in talent scouting,” Keon had said in his speech.

“There is so of much talent in this country that falls through the cracks of the system and it’s really sad, so this is why I suggested to him (Bachmann) and I believe he is listening to me and he would initiate talent scouting,” he added.

Proof of the pudding was Keon’s Gintong Alay product, De Vega-Mercado, who at  a tender age 16 years in 1980, or the year after the creation of the fabled Gintong Alay, bettered the Philippine, South Asian and Asian Games records in one memorable run in the UAAP versus Gintong Alay  meet, reported The Philippine Star.

De Vega-Mercado went on to win two goal medals in the Asian Games, four in the Asian Athletics championships and nine in the Sea Games and set numerous records that cemented her status as one of best, if not the best, athletes Philippines had produced.

And Keon believed De Vega-Mercado  could have won more.

“If Lydia had continued to train from 16 to 24 years old, she could have easily broken 50 seconds which could have won her an Olympic medal and have been an Olympic champion for me.

“In fact, India’s PT Usha, Lydia’s greatest rival, won the Olympic bronze medal inn the 400m hurdles,” Keon had added.

Indeed, there is so much truth in Keon’s concern of lack of talent scouting, which is not only a concern for the Philippines but in Malaysia too.

Malaysia has headed towards getting possible short term success with their naturalised programme especially in football where at least 20 players have been granted citizenship since 2015, whereas in the Malaysian Football League (MFL) there is easily 110 foreign players on parade - where each team is allowed to register 9 players - with only five allowed to be fielded at any one time (three plus one Asian n One Asean player.

Hockey and basketball too, has foreign players plying their trade in league and many other sports are following suit and matter of time others join the bandwagon of  football’s way.

Malaysia is certainly not lacking in talent and there is abundance in the country, especially in East Malaysia, East Coast and Northern States.

Problem is that these talented players are not found, neglected or find it hard to get into the main stream of action.

Above all, Malaysia sports lacks talent scouting culture.

Yes, we have had random talent scouting programme done by the National Sports Council and National Sports Institute, spending millions for findings and hiring individuals to conduct the programme, but in the end did not produce the wanted results.

NSAs who should be the ones doing the talent scouting, have remained dormant.

Ex Internationals Associations for many sports have been time and again been reminded to play a key role in talent scouting, but they themselves have not been fully committed to the idea or blaming NSAs for not giving them the opportunity.

A more concerted effort is indeed needed from all quarters, if they are still passionate about raising the standard of Malaysian sports and giving Malaysian sportsmen and women the opportunity to realise their true potential.

There is no need to look for foreign talent because Malaysia is a multi-racial country and gifted that we have different strength from the various races - Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sikhs, Eurasian and not to mention the various ethnic groups we have in Malaysia - and combined together we will have a international strength team, without looking for foreign athletes.

Let’s stop trying to get short-term success and instead work on a long-term solution with long term programme over a minimum of one Olympic cycle but two definitely better, and it must be a continuous programme.

But first, let us scout the talent which is waiting to be tapped to give Malaysian sports a better future and reason to cheer for.