Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Husain elected BAM’s deputy president
KUCHING: President of Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA), Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain was recently elected as one of the deputy presidents of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) for the 2017-2021 term.
Tan Sri Abdul Aziz had created a history of sorts for becoming the first BAM’s council member from Sabah and Sarawak to be elected to the No.2 post in Malaysia’s badminton governing body which is now led by its president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria while former acting president, Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin was appointed as the advisor.
Tan Sri Abdul Aziz is, however, modest on the historic milestone which he had achieved for the badminton fraternity history in Sarawak and for SBA in particular because the new position will pose a great challenge to him.
“Of course it is a great honour for me and also for SBA because it was the first time for a Sarawakian to be elected for the post of deputy president,” he said while noting the heavy responsibility which he has to shoulder in view of the high expectations which BAM have, particularly in driving the development pace of badminton in Sarawak and Sabah.
“I also think the council members of BAM have recognised on the importance of Sabah and Sarawak in the development of badminton in the country … one good thing in common is that we share vision of developing the level of the game to a higher level and it is good for us to have that,” said Tan Sri Abdul Aziz who also congratulated Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza for being elected as the new president. He added that Datuk Seri Norza is a dynamic and visionary leader who can continue with BAM’s vision and mission.
He said having Datuk Seri Norza as the new president is equally important because of his plan in setting up of a badminton foundation in the country which will fasten the pace of development for the popular racquet sports including those in Sarawak and Sabah.
According to him, the role of the proposed foundation can ensure the viability of taking up badminton as a professional career particularly those who intend to make a living as a player, a coach or even as an official.
“There are a lot of sports talent in the country be it in swimming, diving, athletics…and the emphasis given right now is to scout for such talents and to enable them make a living or a career including in racquet sports like badminton,” enthused Tan Sri Abdul Aziz on the present situation of sports development in the country.
“And among the first things which came to my mind after being elected is on how Sarawak can benefit from my position which may include in leveraging on some of the development programmes that are being undertaken by BAM such as the setting up badminton academies,” he said.
He revealed that BAM is planning to set up new academies throughout the country including for Sabah and Sarawak which may complement its continuing efforts to create a larger pool of elite players through the training of qualified coaches and technical officials.
SBA is fully supportive of BAM’s long term plan which will benefit Sarawak because it has also been planning to establish its own badminton academy which is aimed to become the centre for training and producing a good pool of players who are capable of joining the elites at national level.
In light of this development, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz said SBA will offer a land in Kuching which can be jointly developed with BAM in which both parties harbour hope in getting the support from the Sarawak State Government.
The proposed academy will serve both the badminton fraternity in Sarawak and Sabah in which Tan Sri Abdul Aziz will oversee its development.
“We truly appreciate the continuing support from our leaders and the Sarawak State Government which have always been supportive of SBA and its efforts to promote the game among the general public as well as to elevate its standard to a higher level,” said Tan Sri Abdul Aziz while thanking the past and present State leaders who had supported SBA all this while.
While Sarawak is no stranger to hosting international badminton tournaments, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz said together BAM and Badminton World Federation (BWF) have high confidence for the State to organise more world-class events in the near future.
According to him, since 2014 Sarawak had organised and hosted four internationally acclaimed badminton championships without facing any problems with the recent Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open 2017 widely regarded as being successful after attracting almost 20,000 spectators from throughout the country and also from neighbouring ASEAN countries.
