SHAH ALAM, Aug 27 — Selangor’s ‘one sport, one local council’ initiative under the Second Selangor Plan (RS-2) should take into account the strengths of each local authority before assigning them responsibility for developing a particular sport.
Sports analyst and observer Datuk Pekan Ramli said factors that should be assessed included sporting infrastructure, available talent, community interest and whether the local council covered predominantly urban or rural areas.
He said councils with strong facilities and greater potential should be given the opportunity to develop two or three sports instead of being restricted to the ‘one sport, one local council’ model.
“If a local council is strong, for example MBSA (Shah Alam City Council), it could be given two or three sports that suit its strengths and available facilities.
“Not all local councils have the same facilities and talent. So, we need to look at their respective strengths before determining which sports are suitable for them to develop,” he told Media Selangor.
Pekan, who is also a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), said the RS-2 initiative was important in building on Selangor’s achievements at the Malaysia Games (SUKMA).
He said early planning was necessary to ensure Selangor could maintain its performance and defend its success at future editions of SUKMA, particularly after emerging as overall champion at the recent Games.
“Local councils could also be given responsibility for developing certain sports until they become part of the identity or brand of the respective areas. This could be made a KPI (key performance indicator) for local councils,” he said.
However, Pekan stressed that local councils should first demonstrate their efforts and achievements before receiving funding support from the State Government.
“If a local council does the work, develops the sport, nurtures talent and delivers results, then funding can be allocated based on performance.
“This approach would indirectly enable each local council to plan community sports programmes in a more structured, focused and sustainable manner,” he said.
Previously, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari announced that the state government would build on the momentum of hosting SUKMA through an emphasis on the ‘one sport, one local council’ initiative to encourage Selangor residents to adopt an active lifestyle.
Amirudin said the initiative would formalise community sports development at the local council level while strengthening an integrated grassroots sports ecosystem.
