For those of us who are parents, we all want to be an inspiration to our children. We always teach our children our hard-working values, manners, and how to behave properly. But we also want to inspire and encourage them on their chosen career paths, rather than forcing or instructing.
One term that us sports people frequently use is “TIP – Talent Identification Program.” This is basically how to identify young talent with huge athletic potential for that sport and develop the selected athletes over time to be world-beaters. Many sports in Malaysia struggle to implement any form of TIP because of lack of funds, resources, and continuity. That is part of the process of building a Lee Chong Wei, Nicol David, Goh Liu Ying, or Azizul Hasni Awang.
Many athletes within our “perlapis or development system” have frequently quit their sport to focus purely on obtaining their academic degrees. I would always ask these athletes, “Why can’t you do both? You are not going to be an athlete forever. If you have the talent, take advantage and go for it.”
The response I usually get is, “My Mummy and Daddy want me to study.” According to my contacts across the causeway, this is also a common challenge within Singapore sports.
When I was the High-Performance Manager at the National Sports Council, I did create a parental engagement blueprint. This was a long-term plan on how to engage with parents and share with them on the potential joys of seeing their son or daughter being crowned a World or Olympic champion #MalaysiaWorldClass is the hashtag.
If you look at our former squash superstar Nicol David, she attributes much of her success to her parents.
So in summary TIP needs BIP. BIP stands for “Building Inspiring Parents - Mum and Dads who will always inspire their children to do whatever it takes to win Global GOLD.”
If our sporting ecosystem wants to grow and go to the next level, then it starts with a constant group of parents who always believe that our Malaysian children can be developed into world-beaters.
We need to change the conversation. Right now its, “OOH you are in sports ah?”
It should be, “You are in sports, wah terror merror loh. Make sure you try and become the best in the world, not just the best in Malaysia. I hope my son and daughter can be like you."
Ben Ibrahim is a TV Commentator, Sports & Media Consultant, and a Certified Mental Toughness Trainer.
In his career, he has worked for FIBA, FISU, Foxsports, and the Ministry of Youth & Sports.
You can contact him on his Public Facebook Page or Instagram @benibrahim_
