GEORGE TOWN – Former national athletics coach Lionel Rajamoney warns that if Penang fails to introduce a systematic athletics development programme to identify new talents at the primary school level, the state will cease to be prominently featured in both the national and international athletics arena in the near future.
He said the state education department must play a pivotal role in identifying new talents and groom them at the school, district, and state levels prior to their national and international level admission.
“They should begin now, otherwise, we will not have outstanding athletics from the state in the next 20 years.
“The school administration should not burden sports teachers with added workload and there must be flexibility for them to train students in the afternoon,” he told The Vibes.
Lionel said the City Stadium should reduce its charges for athletics to use its facilities for training purposes.
He added that the RM16 per hour training fee is too high as funds will be required to hire equipment.
“Stadium staff can also get involved by helping to arrange the hurdles on the track as physically moving them from the storerooms to the track can affect the athletes’ overall stamina and energy.
“As the City Stadium is managed by the Penang Island City Council, it is the state’s responsibility to look into the matter and identify the needs of promising athletes,” he added.
These charges also apply to University Sains Malaysia and the PKS Westland Sports Excellent Centre as the administration should allow genuine athletics to conduct training on their grounds without incurring high costs.
He said the state’s education department has an important role to play in helping and assisting the teachers and students to create star athletes.
“The coaches and sports teachers should be given flexibility in terms of workload as they are required to train the students after work. It is stressful to have to carry that workload and return to the field to conduct training sessions.
“How are the teachers or coaches supposed to be committed and passionate when they have to take out money from their own pocket?” he added.
Lionel represented Bukit Mertajam High School (HSBM) in athletics, cricket and football as part of the school sports team under the blue Colin King House – named after Reverend Colin King, who was the headmaster during World War II.
The HSBM sports teams were named after former headmasters and leaders who had contributed to the school.
The yellow Stowell House was named after Edgar De La Mothe Stowell – the first headmaster of the school.
The red house was named Cheeseman House as H.R. Cheeseman was the man who established HSBM.
The green house was named after school donor Soon Eng Kong, who contributed to the school scholarship - the Soon Eng Kong Gold Medal.
Lionel’s involvement in athletics began in the 1st Penang Schools Athletics Championship in 1953.
His five-decade long contribution to the athletics fraternity as an athlete, coach, technical official, organiser, lecturer and examiner benefitted not only the state of Penang but also the nation as a whole.
During his teaching stint at HSBM in 1958, Lionel attended the British Association of Amateur Athletics course in England.
“When I returned from England, I attended a course with the Malayan Amateur Athletic Union for qualified tactical training and became a Grade One national coach for track, high jump and long jump events,” said Lionel.
In 1962, he attended the physical education tutor course in Kuala Lumpur and was subsequently transferred from HSBM to the Jelutong Secondary School the following year.
“That is where I helped to create athletes like Ariffin Rahmat, who won the gold medal in the Asean Schools Championship meet in Singapore, where he created a record by jumping more than six feet high.”
He also helped Beng Teong Eng win a silver medal in the 1973 SEA Games in Manila.
Together with coach C. Ramanathan, Lionel nurtured Che Osna Che Ahmat, who replaced Marina Chin in the 100m hurdle championship when the latter retired.
The father of three coached the Penang school’s athletics squad from 1963 until his retirement in 1998.
In 2006, Lionel met with an accident, which dislodged his spinal cord, and in 2010, he underwent a total knee replacement and limited his coaching to his two granddaughters.
According to his son Adrian, his father began training his eldest daughter Cassandra Rajamoney in 2015 and in 2017, she won five gold medals as well as the title of best athlete of the year at Convent Light Street when she was in Form Five.
Two years later in Form Six, she won best female athlete at St Xaviers.
Lionel also began coaching his second granddaughter Keisha Rajamoney in 2015.
Keisha went on to win numerous medals in sprints and hurdles – the latest was when she won gold in the 100m hurdles and silver in the 200m hurdles at the state schools’ national zone meet in 2020. - The Vibes, April 28, 2022
Additional reporting by Ian McIntyre
