The Women’s Sports Carnival 2023, which ended on Wednesday, provided several key takeaways, including a no-brainer – that athletes simply need to compete in more events.
The carnival, organised by the National Sports Council (NSC), provided yet another platform for girls and women athletes in Malaysia to showcase their talents.
“It also served as a benchmark for these athletes, as they were able to compare their performance among their peers,” said organising chairman, Safrushahar Yusoff.
“From my observation, the athletes have the skills but they often lose out in tactics. This is simply due to the fact that they don’t have sufficient playtime. If they played more (competitions), they would be able to improve,” added Safrushahar, who was tasked with overseeing the NSC’s Talent and Women’s Development department in March.
“Some of the teams gained valuable experience playing against the better teams. That too, was a learning process for the athletes and coaches.”
He added the technical officials too, felt that they needed more competitions to hone their skills.
“This is a no-brainer. It’s obvious, the more you play, the better you become. Training alone is not enough. You need to be in a competitive environment,” Safrushahar added.
This year’s carnival, held from Sept 4-6 at Universiti Tenaga Nasional and Universiti Putra Malaysia, saw the participation of some 700-odd athletes and officials. Four sports – football, rugby, hockey, and netball – were contested.
While such a carnival is not new, and was seen during Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said’s stint as Youth and Sports minister close to two decades ago, it was not held on a regular basis. There are now plans to ensure that the carnival becomes an annual affair, with the inclusion of more sports.
Safrushahar said more carnivals should be organised, and that they need not be done on a big scale.
“The best thing for the youngsters is to have a simple league. It’s best to work with the Education Ministry and to complement the ministry’s sporting calendar so that the student-athletes will have competitions throughout the year.
“Our programmes can be adjusted accordingly to ensure there are no long gaps between events,” he added.
Image: National Sports Council
