Badminton: There's a lack of discipline
National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong believes the onus is on the players to change their attitude.
DISCIPLINE has been identified as one of the main factors that has led to the decline of the national shuttlers' standards and the debate continues on how the issue should be tackled.
National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong views the problem seriously and has stated that stricter measures -- like appointing an army officer to be the camp commandant at the players hostel situated at Rakan Muda Complex in Bukit Kiara -- must be employed.
However, Zollkples felt that would probably be the last resort to curb the problem but firmly believes the onus is on the players to change their attitude, value the habit of sleeping early an also curtail their nightlife.
Presently, Haw Kim Tho is the camp commandant but Zolkples feels the players may have got too familiar with the former and may not be following orders.
"Discipline is crucial for the development of a player and as experienced internationals, the shuttlers should know how to follow the rules. Keeping late nights is definitely not helping them. If (Lee) Chong Wei can make it a point to sleep at 10pm, I'm sure the others can too," said Zolkples.
"Since the the Rakan Muda Complex is also utilised by others, we have specially allocated several floors to the badminton players only and Kim Tho is there to monitor them.
"The onus is on them to avoid nightlife as it will disrupt their training the following day. I can arrange for an army officer to take charge of the camp if this what the players want. They should follow the rules which is the norm of a successful athlete without being coaxed to do so."
Zolkples said that he doesn't want to interfere with BA of Malaysia's (BAM) matters as they are in the process of completing the postmortem of the Thomas Cup but wants to sit with president Datuk Nadzmi Salleh to discuss various issues including discipline.
Nadzmi also said that coaches in China only return home once a fortnight and this helps them monitor players' discipline but this may not be practical in Malaysia.
"This is what practiced in China but can we ask the coaches to do the same? I don't think we have to imitate everything that China do but we have to accept that they are world class when it comes to discipline," said Nadzmi.
"Our players have discipline but not enough to claim that it is world class. We are deliberating on several suggestions on how to make it better."
National doubles coach Tan Kim Her was more candid saying the role of the camp commandant is crucial as it is his duty to report to the BAM management if players break the rules. "I feel that the camp commandant is very important as he is the one who should monitor if the players return late at night, are involve regularly in nightlife and commit other disciplinary infringements. He must report it all to the management and it must be followed by appropriate action," said Kim Her.
"It is important to have specific rules and regulations which must be followed by all.
"Coaches also play major roles and our job is to discipline the players while in training and during tournaments. A player who is disciplined in training and focused on achieving his goals in tournaments will naturally have a healthy lifestyle."
Some have even pushed for errant players to be banned from competing in tournaments -- the ban ranging from between three to six months -- but this is seen as a last resort and only if a player gets beyond control.
CREDITS TO NST ONLINE
aku setuju sgt2..... players kite kene lebih displin lagik......
semua kene ikut attitude chong wei......
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Post time 24-5-2010 09:48 AM
kekeke
