GEORGE TOWN: When Lionel Rajamoney returned to Penang after a coaching training stint in England in 1958, his path to athletics was made easier by the “can-do” spirit, which propelled the state to become an athletics powerhouse.
Penangites those days were inspired by achievements in the world of sports, business, and education, but more importantly “they had heart”, in the words of the now 80–year-old Rajamoney.
He was an integral part in this period of sporting excellence where Malaysian athletes, notably from Penang, dominated the regional SEA Games.
After becoming the top athletics coach at SMK Jelutong, Rajamoney quickly ascended the ranks to become part of the panel of national athletics coaches, specialising in the high jump and hurdles.
Among his charges were Ariffin Rahmad, Beng Teong Eng, Che Osna Che Amat, Sabana Kanum and, for a brief period, Datuk Zaiton Othman, who went on to become the national sports commissioner before retiring recently.
When Datuk Marina Chin, the darling of Malaysian athletics, retired it was Rajamoney who groomed Che Osna to replace her.
Che Osna went on to shatter records in the 100m hurdles.
Rajamoney said his greatest achievement was helping Penang become the undisputed athletics champion in the 1980s.
There were no sports schools then or specialist training institutions; the runners were selected from schools, groomed and turned into star athletes.
Rajamoney hails from a family of brothers, who were personalities both in sports and music.
He is, without a doubt, a talent having devoted most of his adulthood to coaching at school, club, state and national levels.
His experience and skills are not confined to coaching, he is also a pioneering technical officer.
Fast forward to today and one feels that Penang is a shadow of its former self when it was a powerhouse. So what went wrong?
Rajamoney said it is a combination of indiscipline, neglect by associations, politicking and corruption that led to what is best described as decay of sport.
“It is not only indiscipline with some athletes, but also officials. They were late for meets, causing the runners to lose time for warm-ups.
“There are no places for budding athletes to train. They have imposed steep fees at the City Stadium and the Universiti Sains Malaysia tracks.”
There are also no synthetic grounds to train with the only available area being the recreational ones in Botanical Gardens, Youth Park and Bukit Dumbar.
In 2006 Rajamoney met a major road accident and had to retire due to his injuries.
It took him months to recover, but after a brief stint as a fitness instructor for the Penang Premier League football squad, Rajamoney now coaches his granddaughters Keisha and Casandra, who are students in Penang.
Both have won events in the sprints and cross–country, while his son Adrian has followed in his footsteps taking up coaching and technical courses.
“Coaching is in my blood. I can easily spot someone running the wrong way, especially flat-footed. One must run on the ball of your feet and your arms must not be swinging. We must have linear movements,” he said.
“Sporting excellence builds character,” Rajamoney said, pointing out that Datuk Nicol David could excel in studies and sports.
Incidentally, Desmond David, a former state football goalkeeper and Nicol’s father, was also one of Rajamoney’s charges.
