KUCHING: Sarawak Athletics Association (SAA) hopes to produce track and field athletes in the likes of the Flying Dayak Watson Nyambek and track queen Datuk Paduka Mumtaz Jaafar.
Its president Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said the association must identify and pool local talents in order to polish them into star athletes.
“I hope that the athletes will strive harder to be on par with national or international athletes.
“It is a rare gem to get athletes like Pandelela Rinong. It is hard but not impossible,” he said when officiating at the first Sarawak Women’s Leadership webinar organised by SAA on Saturday (May 22).
He hoped that young athletes could be motivated at the grassroots level to continue to be interested in sports, especially athletics, as they mature.
“If you are interested and would like to be involved in athletics, you can come forward and approach us,” he said.
He added that SAA aimed to increase the involvement of women in leadership positions by giving them greater exposure.
“In our state of Sarawak, you can see prominent women leaders working tirelessly to serve the state and the nation.
“For instance, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, Sarawak’s Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development. I genuinely hope that this trend of women leaders will continue with future generations,” he said.
More than a hundred participants, mostly women attended the webinar conducted on Google Meet
The speakers included Mumtaz, who is a former Malaysian sprint queen and now Olympics Council Malaysia vice president; Josephine Kang Teok Koon, the Malaysian Athletics Federation vice president; and Sarawak Amateur Gymnastics Association president Helena Wee,.
The webinar was moderated by Valerie Chan Sue Lin Abdullah, a senior lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Mara Sarawak.
The main objective of the webinar was to increase women leaders in the state.
