Dedicated and passionate sports teachers, a dying
breed
TEACHERS play a crucial role in the development of sports. It cannot be denied that many sportsmen and women of yesteryear rose to great heights from the foundation laid by these dedicated and passionate coach-teachers.
Teachers would pick up students from their homes for training. Also, ferry them to matches. Give them pocket- money, using funds from, yes, their own pockets. This gesture was an enabler. Children from poor families were able to take up sports. These sports teachers are known to spend long hours on the field coaching without any remuneration.
Additionally, this special breed of ‘sports teachers’ from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s often acted as talent scouts, coaches, counselors, and mentors.
They had the heart and soul for sports and did their share for development.
They had given time, money, and passion to groom thousands of future national athletes and icons.
This special breed of teachers has slowly dwindled, and presently, there are only a handful of such dedicated teachers. It is one of the reasons for the smaller number of talented students coming from schools.
Among the various reasons why teachers of late have been blamed for not having the same commitment to sports, include lack of rewards, schools not being interested in sports, education taking precedence, teachers concentrating on tuition, and a diminishing number of school fields.
Of course, we have sports schools with teachers who are trained coaches in various sports, and in all fairness to the Ministry of Education (MOE), they are trying their best to make sports relevant in the education system.
There are a significant number of school teachers and coaches involved in district training centres, which cover core sports such as football, hockey, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, sepak takraw, athletics, archery, bowling, and badminton.
Then there are development programs in the form of leagues and circuits for sports such as football, athletics, hockey, and netball.
There is the Malaysian School Sports Council (MSSM) sports calendar, which involves 24 sports. It involves Under-12, Under-15, and Under-18 boys and girls.
Top athletes from MSSM are then selected for Asean, Asian, and world age-group tournaments.
These athletes are mostly from sports schools. This amplifies the issue of the shrinking talent-pool. Schools that used to be reservoirs of talent for various sports seem to have ceased generating talents.
Golden days are gone, and basically, it all boils down to the lack of dedicated and passionate teachers.
Today, while we have numbers to show that we have trained coach teachers, the end product does not correspond, as most of these teachers just hold certificates and are not really interested in sports or have never been sports-oriented themselves. As I see it, their dedication and passion are questionable.
I recall the names of school teachers from my schooling and early days of reporting, which may not ring a bell to the current generation, but I would like to pay tribute to them, some of whom have passed on.
Among them are Gerald Rozells, Bernard Khoo, Philip Adolphus, Kirubakatan Rokk, David Fernandez, and Ahmad Shafie (football), Lionel Rajamoney, Michael Perry, and C. Ramanathan, T. Krishnan, Rennie Martin, A. Tripadi, S. Sivapragasam, Tan Choo Mong, T. Thiruselvam, Marina Chin, N. Nadarajah (athletics), Brian Foennader, Louis Rodriques, Vincent Fernandez, S. Sivapathsundram, Malek Khiew, Teng Cheng Leong, Pritam Singh Sandhu, Gurdial Singh, Clifford Sequerah (hockey), B. Rajakulasingham, Indran, B. Sathiasivam, R. Ratnasingam, Jimi Chai (cricket), Aladad Khan (multiple sports), Mui Fatt Chai, Goh Yea Yen (badminton), Wong Tong Poh (swimming), Phua Seng Tiong, Ung Ket Chow (rugby) and the list goes on.
Six years ago in Alor Star, a Kedah Sports Personalities Recognition night was organized by former members of the Garuda Athletics Club, headed by former sports writer J. Naidu. Naidu was always on the go, churning out articles. He was athletic coach who trained school children. Naidu and his soulmates honoured several teachers.
Many of these teachers are still actively involved in coaching despite being retired.
Naidu is organizing a reunion on Nov 4 in Alor Setar, and around 60 people who attended the award ceremony will be meeting over dinner to reminisce about the good old days.
In recent times, there have been a fair share of dedicated teachers, among whom are K. Sukumaran, P. Gansesmoorthy, C. Nadarajan, Md Yazid Yahaya, Sidan Harun, Mat Jusoh Saat, Khairul Annuar Khairuddin (football), S. Arunandy, Khoo Boon Keat, A. Vellurajan, K. Segeran Nair, Tan Eng Hui, R. Magendran, Pritam Kaur (athletics), S. Sasitheran, R. Vivekananda, N. Ghananathan, K. Sunderasan, Tejar Singh, Yap Gark Soo, Mokhtar Baharuddin, Durai Raj and Douglas Gomez (hockey), Mazlan Ahmad (swimming), Guana Seagarn Sammuel, Yasmin Othman, Nahar Desa, Madeline Parril, Khairul Mohtar, Anita Abdullah, Doris Selvi Thomas, Mathialagan, Abdul Rahman Besar (bowling) to name a few.
It is impossible to credit everyone because there are those who shy away from publicity or work in remote places, while some are never recognised because others take their glory.
To these sports teachers and the many more not mentioned, a standing ovation and salute are in order.
Is there a chance to see this breed of teachers resurface again and give us glorious moments to cherish?
I doubt because, sadly, times have changed. Priorities are different, and above all, passionate and dedicated teachers are a dying breed.
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