KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts to strengthen Malaysia’s athlete development ecosystem have entered a bold new phase with the streamlining of 20 High-Performance Core Sports across the National Sports Council (NSC), Education Ministry (MoE), Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and National Sports Associations (NSAs).
NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin said the initiative aims to ensure a holistic and integrated approach to nurturing athletes, starting from school level through to higher education institutions and into national programmes.
“NSC is implementing these 20 core sports, alongside others, and MoHE and MoE will also roll out these 20 sports based on their respective approvals, that’s the key focus. This means all agencies will implement the 20 High-Performance Core Sports at their levels.
“Secondly, on training programmes, MoHE and MoE have their own initiatives, and they’ll also conduct training based on the designated sports list,” he told a press conference at NSC’s Casa 4 here today.
MoHE Strategic Planning Division (Sports Section) deputy secretary, Dr Hanafiah Ayub, welcomed the coordinated effort across all levels as a game-changer for streamlining national athlete development programmes.
“With this effort, we’ll see more consistent coordination, meaning our resources are aligned with the national agenda. It’s great that we’re working together,” he said.
Meanwhile, MoE’s senior assistant director of the Sports, Co-Curriculum, and Arts Division, Norhamimi Otham, said MoE is committed to collaborating closely with NSC and MoHE to produce high-performing athletes.
“We know MoE is the foundation for everything, the starting point for nurturing athletes begins in school,” she said.
Earlier today, NSC hosted a roundtable discussion with MoE, MoHE, and NSAs, with Jefri describing the four as key players in the initiative.
In April, the government designated 20 High-Performance Core Sports as a strategic move to enhance national sports development in a more efficient, systematic and focused manner.
This was decided at the first Cabinet Committee on Sports Development (JKPS) meeting of this year, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The 20 sports are aquatics (swimming and diving), weightlifting, badminton, cycling (track), lawn bowls, esports, gymnastics (artistic and rhythmic), hockey, karate, archery, shooting, athletics, sailing, table tennis, sepak takraw, silat, squash, taekwondo, tenpin bowling and wushu.
