Disability Futsal Tournament

K. Rajagobal (right) with one of the winners.

The Individually Mentally Challenged Pan-Disability Football Malaysia organized a Disability Futsal International Friendly Tournament at the Sports Planet Futsal Arena in Subang Jaya on 26 Feb.

The participants were 30 cerebral palsy players and 30 intellectually disabled players from Malaysia and Singapore. 25 volunteers from MAHSA College and UNITAR College were present to assist the organizers.

30 officials from various organizations were also assisting. These officials were from:- Singapore Disability Sports Council, Malaysian Paralympic Council, Spastic Children’s Centre Petaling Jaya, Bethany Home, Teluk Intan, Kids Inclusive Sports Club, Singapore and IMC Pan-Disability Football, Subang Jaya.

Teams were divided into two categories as follows:
Cerebral Palsy Category (CP)
KISC Singapore A
KISC Singapore B
Spastic Centre PJ, Malaysia

Intellectual Disability Category (ID)
IMC Pan Disability Football, Malaysia
Bethany Home, Perak, Malaysia

Individual Mentally Challenged (IMC) Training Centre for Children with Special Needs, a training centre  located at USJ 4 Subang Jaya, providing educational, vocational and sports training to individuals with multiple disability, such as Down’s syndrome, Autistics, Asperger Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Epileptic, ADD & ADHD (Hyperactivity Disorder).

The objective of this event was to encourage participation among multi disabled individuals and to foster greater cooperation in the development of disability football between both nations and to reinforce the need to develop high performance disabled footballers.

Long term development plans are to establish a National Football League for the disabled of various categories, and to mould players to represent specific international tournaments within the region.

This event was witnessed by National Team Manager Dato’ Subahan Mohd Kamal and national Head Coach, K. Rajagobal from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

Both Dato’ Subahan and Rajagobal acknowledged that they were amazed with what they saw and pledged to bring up this development to the management of FAM. They praised the organizing committee lead for taking the initiative to stage this event.

Both gave a very inspiring speech about the turnaround of Malaysian Football and were seen mingling freely with the disabled footballers from Singapore and Malaysia.

Results of the tournament:
Cerebral Palsy

Champion : KISC Team B from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Runner-up : Kids Inclusive Sports Club Team A from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Third : Spastic Children’s Association from PJ, Malaysia
Most Valuable Player : No 77, Khairul Azman from KISC Team B from Singapore

Intellectually Disabled
Champion : Kids Inclusive Sports Club from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Runner-up : Bethany Home, Simpang Empat, Perak
Third : IMC Pan Disability Football Malaysia

Most Valuable Player : No 28, Md. Nasuha from IMC Pan Disability Football from Malaysia.

For further information on this tournament and IMC please contact Mr. Sunny Shalesh, Pan Disability Football Malaysia - Instructor / Tournament Coordinator
(012 282 6067 / 017 884 8943).

Teachers introduced to Olympism

Some of the participants.

A total of 137 teachers from six Wesley Methodist Schools (Five secondary and one
primary school) were introduced to Olympism and Olympic Education.

The teachers, who gathered in Bukit Gambang Resort City for the annual Wesley Methodist School
Teachers’ Conference organized by the Methodist Education Council, were receptive to the
information presented to them by the Pierre de Coubertin Society of Malaysia (PCSM) entitled
“Olympism and Character Building”.

The three hour session on March 12th was divided into two parts; the first part was the introduction
to Olympism and the second part, a group discussion using the Open Space Technology on how to
implement Olympic Education in their schools.

For the first part, the teachers watched videos and were informed about the founder, principles and
values of Olympism by speaker, Nicholas Chan who is also the Vice-President of PCSM.

After imparting them with the basic grounds of Olympism, the teachers were then triggered to initiate a
group discussion using the Open Space Technology method. Topics like “Religion and Olympism”,
“Physical Education and Olympism” and “ICT and Olympism” were sparked and the teachers
brainstormed on how to get the message of Olympism through to their students. Each group
subsequently presented the outcome of their discussion.


At the end of the session, a survey was distributed and one of the questions asked was “Do you think
that Olympism can be integrated into the school syllabus?”. 97% of the teachers answered “Yes”.

When asked how would they describe the relevance of Olympism in a child’s upbringing, Cik Nur
Natasha Bt Muhamad Rani, a Mathematics teacher from the Wesley Methodist School in Seremban
wrote “It teaches the child to recognize the values of life through sports.” while Mr. Au Yong San
from the Wesley Methodist School in Melaka who teaches Geography and Art commented, “It would
inculcate the spirit of perseverance, tolerance, patience, competitiveness, cooperation and
comradeship.”.

Group discussions using the Open Space Technology Method.

This was the first time that PCSM was approaching teachers about Olympism and it proved to be a success as the teachers found Olympic Education to be relevant in the promotion of a balanced and holistic development of a child.

Out of the six schools that participated, two principals have already expressed their interest to organize an Olympism Outreach Program in their schools.

4 golds in London 2012

The Youth and Sport Ministry are eyeing four gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics although the nation has yet to win a first gold medal in the Olympics history.

Youth and Sport minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the country's medal hopes would hinge on badminton (2) from Datuk Lee Chong Wei (men's singles); Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (men's doubles); Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (men's track cycling) and Pandelela Rinong (women's diving).

"If we try hard and with a stroke of luck, I feel we can are not looking at one but four gold medals because our 'Road To London 2012' programme is geared towards that goal," he said after signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Sports Council (NSC) and 100PLUS and launching the 500 days countdown for the Road To London programme, Monday.

Ahmad Shabery said Chong Wei had gained a physiological advantage by demolishing his nemesis Lin Dan, referred to as the Great Wall of China in the badminton circle, to win the All England title Sunday night.

Chong Wei who was in superb form, beat Lin Dan 21-17, 21-17 to defend the title he had won last year, enroute to denying Lin Dan's fifth All England title.

"Koo and Tan always displayed courage with their spirited performances and Azizulhasni remains the number one track cyclist, especially in the keirin event.

"Pandelela has won the silver medal in the World Junior Diving Championships and Asian Games and is now ranked one place behind China's world number one," he said.

The 'Road To London' programme comprises 77 athletes from seven sports, namely badminton, archery, cycling, diving, shooting, hockey and football.

-- BERNAMA

Nurdin barred

Nurdin

FIFA has banned Nurdin Halid from running as a candidate in the Indonesia Football Association’s (PSSI) upcoming elections, says the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland.

Nurdin, the PSSI’s current chairman, is unable to run for reelection for the 2011-2015 term because it goes against FIFA statutes on convicts, said Ambassador Joko Susilo on Tuesday night.

According to Joko, FIFA president Sepp Blatter made the ruling during a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

“Sepp Blatter said FIFA upholds the statutes that states a convict cannot lead a football organization,” Joko said, adding that he had explained the situation to Blatter.He said Blatter was well aware of the crisis that embroiled the PSSI.

“If Nurdin is reelected, FIFA won’t legitimize the election result. They want Indonesian football to be much better,” Joko said. FIFA is slated to send a team to Jakarta to monitor the election.

Last week, FIFA ordered the PSSI organize a general assembly for March 26 in order to designate an electoral committee, which would have until April 30 to organize an election.

Talented players carry Malaysia's hopes

A bunch of “very talented” individual polo players carry Malaysia’s hopes and aspirations for a historic place in the FIP Polo World Cup Finals scheduled to be held in San Luis, Argentina in October.

 

 Malaysia, despite being one of Asia’s most established polo nations, has never made it to the FIP World Cup Finals. And as recently as two months ago the national polo team assembled to carry the country’s challenge looked “lost and chaotic”.

 

But all that has changed and today Malaysia look positive for a top three finish in the eight-team FIP Polo World Cup Zone D qualifier that will be played at three historic polo clubs – the Royal Pahang Polo Club (established in 1926), the Royal Selangor Polo Club (1902) and the Putrajaya Equestrian Park (2005) from June 11-26.

 

National polo skipper Shaik Reismann, the only Malaysian player with World Cup experience, having played for Singapore in India in 2000, summed it up all when he said “today we (Malaysia) are a strong unit with lots of confidence” that is capable of  finishing in the top three for a place in the Finals.

 

Apart from Malaysia, the other teams vying for a ticket to Argentina are Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Nigeria and Singapore.

 

 “I do admit that with the likes of Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and even Pakistan - all strong polo playing nations, - we are in a very tough zone (Qualifier). This makes us nervous but the only way to overcome this is to be positive.

 

“It was haywire when we got together as a team. As recently as two months ago we were still chaotic. But all that has changed now. We have talented individual polo players who have moulded well into a strong unit with lots of confidence,” said Shaik

“Right now you can see a lot of chemistry between the players. This is certainly a plus point for the team. From March onwards we will increase our training tempo as the tournament draws nearer.

 

“Every player has a role to play. On top of that we need to be very disciplined and fully focused. And we are not lacking in this field. I am pleased and happy with the way everyone is carrying out his duties.”

 

Shaik picked Australia South Africa and New Zealand as the front runners in the Qualifier but in the same breath pointed out that every team, including Malaysia, is good as any other. In short, we cannot underrate our rivals.

 

“It is going to be a very tough and physical tournament. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will hold out. The weather is the worst nightmare in polo. If it rains, it will be hard on the teams,” added Shaik, who plays with a +3 Handicap.

 

Shaik, who has worked as a racehorse trainer, is also a horse dentist and has been a professional polo player since 2006. A three-time winner of the Thai Polo Open, apart from winning the SEA Games gold medal in polo in 2007 in Korat, Shaik has also won many medium and high goal tournaments in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

 

As hosts, the Royal Malaysian Polo Association wants to ensure that Malaysia stages an outstanding (Qualifier) tournament that FIP can be proud of to enhance Malaysia’s hopes as serious contender to host the 2014 FIP World Cup Finals.

 

4.5 slots for Asia in 2014 FIFA World Cup

Asia will continue to have the 4.5 berths reserved for the continent in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Brazil.The decision was confirmed by the FIFA Executive Committee which met in Zurich, Thursday. The 4.5 places or berths is the same distribution of slots as for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

For the play-offs relating to the half slots, a draw will determine how the four confederations involved (AFC, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and OFC) will pair off. Sufficient time will be allowed between the home and away legs of these play-offs.

The play-off team from Asia had played against an Oceania team for a slot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The slots available for the 2014 FIFA World Cup are: AFC 4.5, CAF 5.0, CONCACAF 3.5, CONMEBOL 4.5, OFC 0.5, UEFA 13.0 and one slot the host Brazil.

30th March....important date

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will conduct four official draws on 30th March 2011 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The draws are for:
1. Qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Championship 2012
2. Qualifiers for the AFC U-19 Championship 2012
3. Round 2 Asian Qualifiers for Olympic 2012 Football Tournament
4. Asian Qualifiers Round 1 for 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Well, I am sure the coaches will be interested and excited to know that the draws are going to be made soon.