Youth, education, higher ed ministries to work together in developing sports talent

PUTRAJAYA – The Youth and Sports, Education, and Higher Education Ministries will be working together to develop talent in high-performance sports, particularly swimming, athletics, and combat sports.

The collaboration was set up through the High-Level Committee (HLC), chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid said the government has established the committee to lead the talent development that aims to reform the country’s high-performance sports.

“We have just completed the meeting of the Sports Development Committee, which was last held in 2014.

“The purpose of this meeting is to coordinate and streamline the delivery system of initiatives and sports development programmes. It includes strengthening the cooperation of various sectors to achieve the goal of making Malaysia a sporting nation.

“To ensure that the country does not fall behind and keeps pace with countries that have advanced sports development, we agreed to set up the HLC to focus on talent development models for martial arts, athletics and swimming,” he said in a press conference after chairing a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office here, today.

Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the HLC was set up following the results of the 2023 SEA Games, where combat sports were outstanding in contributing gold medals, while athletics and swimming missed out on a lot.

“With a top-down approach and the involvement of the deputy prime minister to reform this sport, we have a plan to develop new talent, especially sports that have the potential to contribute medals to the country.

“He wanted to make sure there is coordination between the three ministries to unearth the talent and we need to work together.

“Most importantly, we close the gap between the ministries today with the existence of a committee like this in the hope that the opportunity to succeed at the SEA Games and Olympics in the future will not be missed,” she said.

Hannah added that the meeting also discussed inviting more government-linked companies to fund sporting events, thus improving the nation’s sports development programme. – The Vibes, May 30, 2023