KUALA LUMPUR: Newly elected Malaysia Pickleball Association (MPA) president Datuk Khoo Khiam Ping has pledged to establish a standardised national pathway for coaches and technical officials to bring greater structure and professionalism to the sport.
Khoo said one of the association’s priorities would be to ensure coaching and officiating qualifications were properly assessed and recognised, leading to nationally and internationally recognised certification.
“Once we ensure coaches and technical officials’ certificates are recognised, from there, there will be a pathway for athletes to excel at district level, state level, national level and eventually internationally,” said Khoo.
“We will get the National Sports Institute and the National Coaching Academy to help develop the system, as we need to establish a single recognised standard.
“MPA would also look at how to assess existing qualifications rather than forcing coaches to repeat training unnecessarily.”
Khoo acknowledged that “thousands” of coaches and officials had already paid to obtain their certifications, saying MPA would seek to assess existing qualifications rather than require individuals to undergo retraining.
“Maybe if you already have one, you don’t have to go through the whole process again, but you come here for an evaluation,” he said.
Those who meet the requirements could then be recognised under a structured coaching system, potentially progressing from Malaysian Coaching Level 1 to eventually an international level.
Khoo said the objective was to facilitate the transition while ensuring there was a clear distinction between properly qualified coaches and those whose qualifications had not been independently assessed.
“We will find ways and methods to assess them and recognise them, because we want to facilitate things. We don’t want to make things difficult for everyone, but they must follow certain rules. There has to be a standard,” he said.
The push for a unified system has received backing from the Johor Pickleball Association (JPA), which said the absence of common standards had created uncertainty over coaching and officiating qualifications.
JPA permanent chairman S. Rajasegram said MPA had yet to produce a unified national coaching syllabus, while there was similarly no standardised national syllabus for technical officials and referees.
He said the situation was further complicated by the presence of three international pickleball federations – Global Pickleball Federation, World Pickleball Federation and International Federation of Pickleball.
“Without a national standard, Malaysians would be confused,” said Rajasegram.
“Private parties, clubs and individuals are also conducting coaching courses and issuing certificates without a common quality-control framework.”
Rajasegram called for MPA to establish a national coaching and technical committee comprising qualified coach educators, sports science experts and internationally certified coaches.
He also proposed a standardised coaching system covering Basic/Community Coach, Level 1 Foundation, Level 2 Development and Level 3 Elite/High Performance, with clear learning outcomes, theory and practical hours, assessment methods and safety modules.
For technical officials, JPA proposed a similar Level 1, 2 and 3 pathway covering referees, line judges and tournament directors.
Khoo said the issue of coaching standards was also closely tied to athlete development.
Khoo was elected MPA president following the national body’s extraordinary general meeting-cum-election at Akademi Badminton Malaysia on Oct 3.
His immediate priorities include getting MPA’s suspension by the Sports Commissioner’s Office (SCO) lifted, uniting factions within the association and putting the sport on a stronger administrative footing.
