When I was a teenager, many Uncles and Aunties would always talk about the year 2020 AKA Malaysia’s Vision 2020. It is the year that our nation was supposed to be classified as a “fully developed country.” But life had a different plan for all of us.
I will be honest; I did not see the Covid-19 pandemic coming. When I first heard about it, I never thought it would give us the 2020 we have all experienced. Many of us lost many things, but the sports industry almost lost our whole ecosystem.
When the MCO started in March this year, all athletes and coaches stopped training. Student-athletes could not even attend classes because the number one priority then was to limit physical human contact. I felt so bad for my sportsmen and women colleagues because their income was either stopped or reduced. I wanted to help but I was also struggling.
The international Rugby team that I set-up with Global Rapid Rugby – the Malaysia Valke – had to be closed as we were not allowed to travel or receive any visiting teams.
This week I reached out to some of my Malaysian high-performance athlete friends and asked them how they were doing.
Asian Games Bronze medalist Taekwondo Poomsae athlete - Sara Yap said, “Our sport does not have much expectations for 2021 yet. But our sport has initiated some on-line competitions for this year to keep our athletes from all over the world as active and competitive as possible. Since my sport is performance-based, it is easier to organize as compared to the sparring-combat side of the sport.”
2017 South-East-Asian Games Race Walker Gold Medalist, Elena Goh said, “I don’t want to use the pandemic or my injury as an excuse to give up. I use it as motivation to work harder, train smarter, and never give up to improve as an athlete.”
Elena has been battling a major leg injury this year and her target is to have a good performance at the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam. 2021 will also be an Olympic year and the games will begin in late July and finish in early August.
I have always said that sport is the ultimate life educator. It is all about hard work, sacrifice, teamwork, and fun, but most of all it’s about making your dreams come true.
So to all my Malaysian athlete friends, keep working and believing, and never stop dreaming of wanting to be the best in your sport. Elena said it the best, “Covid is just an excuse to quit.”
Let us never forget, that having a Winning Mentality is about never backing down no matter what. If a game is 90 minutes, we play for 100. If we are feeling hurt when competing, then we play hurt.
Remember that pain is temporary, but pride is forever.
Ben Ibrahim is a TV Commentator, Sports & Media Consultant. In his career, he has also worked for FIBA, FISU, Foxsports, and the Ministry of Youth & Sports.
He also set-up the Malaysia Valke Rugby Club for the Global Rapid Rugby competition.
You can contact him on his public Facebook page or on his Instagram @benibrahim_
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