THE Penang State Sports Council (PSSC) has appointed a total of 41 young coaches under the ‘Penang Junior Coaches’ programme to further develop the sports industry in the state.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee said the coaches comprises both the existing sports athletes and the former athletes of Penang.
“The Penang Junior Coaches programme, which I had launched earlier on Aug 12, was aimed at providing career opportunities for our very own young athletes by appointing them as coaches.
“A total of RM180,000 has been allocated for the programme from the Penang Athlete Career Education (PACE) fund.
“The phase one of the programme will involve nine sports and they are; badminton, basketball, netball, hockey, athletics, petanque, sepak takraw, silambam and boxing,” Soon said this in his speech during the appointment ceremony today.
Concurrently, the ‘Penang Junior Champions’ programme was also launched at the ceremony.
The coaches appointed under the ‘Penang Junior Coaches’ programme will be tasked to train the young ones.
Soon said the programme is the state government’s initiative to produce more young talents in sports for Penang.
“The Penang Junior Champions programme will be implemented at 30 training centres across the five districts in Penang. It is set to take place next year from January till March (first series).
“The programme is open to all Penangites aged six to 12 and parents can register their children for the programme for free.
“The kids can attend the training at the training centres set up at their respective constituencies.
“It is hoped that this programme will be able to produce more young sports talents in Penang as well as encourage the young coaches to keep up their sporting spirit in line with the state government’s Penang2030 vision,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, a total of 14 state athletes from sports such as volleyball, petanque, athletics, karate and judo received their PACE education incentives totalling to RM11,600 at the same event.
“From January till December 2021, we have given out PACE education incentives to a total of 60 athletes.
“Aside from that, today, another two athletes will be receiving their B40 sports scholarship with a total allocation of RM16,500.
“With the inclusion of these two recipients, we have awarded a total of 33 athletes with this scholarship so far,” Soon said.
Apart from that, two athletes Muhammad Asuad Mohd Halim (boxing) and Israr Hazim Ismail (sailing) also received financial assistance to aid their surgery cost under the ‘Skim Kebajikan Atlet Negeri’ (SKAN) programme.
Muhammad Asuad and Israr received RM17,030 and RM17,950 each.
Chiam Ter Min, the head for PSSC’s coaching unit, said a total of 139 participants have registered so far for the Penang Junior Champions programme.
“We call upon parents to send their children for the training sessions to unleash their potential in sports.
“Trainings are available for sports, namely badminton, basketball, netball, hockey, athletics, petanque, sepak takraw, silambam and boxing,’’ he said.
PSSC director Harry Chai, who was also present, encouraged all the athletes to keep striving for excellence.
“Your biggest competitor would be your own self, therefore keep going for the best,’’ he said.
For enquiries on the Penang Junior Champions programme, please contact 04-659 3713/14/15 or email to [email protected] or visit http://msnpp.penang.gov.my/.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis