Next year, the Youth and Sports Ministry will focus on basic courses for fitness instructors, football coaches, sepak takraw coaches, volleyball coaches, and many other sports which will be identified based on local needs.
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah revealed this in his winding up speech yesterday.
“These basic sports development activities aim to assist the development of various sporting activities at the grassroots level,” he explained, adding that they would also encourage unemployed youths to be engaged as full-time local coaches.
The minister said that sports volunteerism would also be one of the Ministry’s priorities next year and that more courses for sports instructors would be organised to increase the number of knowledgeable and skilful trainers for niche sports.
Abdul Karim said the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) and Sarawak State Sports Council (MSN) had organised a total of 70 activities involving more than 3,000 people from January to November this year.
“Since this year, SSC has staged and hosted various sporting events at national and international levels at its venue. Therefore, the usage of facilities under SSC this year has increased by 20 per cent compared to last year,” he revealed.
Abdul Karim said SSC would be holding the second Sukan Sarawak (Suksar II) in Miri from December 9 to 14 this year.
“A total of 1,728 participants including athletes and officials are expected to participate in Suksar II Miri 2019,” he added.
The minister also disclosed that the Sarawak contingent would be taking part in 32 sports in the upcoming 20th Sukan Malaysia 2020 (Sukma 2020) which would take place from July 11 to 19, 2020 in Johor.
He stated that since January this year, e-sports have been one of the added components for the preparation of Sukma 2020.
“During the upcoming Sukma 2020, three tournament categories of e-sports will be organised, namely Dota, Mobile Legends, and Pro Evolution Soccer (PES),” he said.
Abdul Karim said that a tournament jointly organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, SSC, and Sarawak E-Sports Association in April this year enabled the latter to scout for talents.
“This programme created a milestone for the e-sports arena to develop and grow throughout Sarawak,” he added.
