"We are determined to introduce the Grand Design for National Sports on September 9, 2021," Minister Amali stated at a meeting convened by the ministry to introduce the grand design on Wednesday, as quoted from the Youth and Sports Ministry's official website.
Amali said he hoped the grand design would be introduced by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the commemoration of the 38th National Sports Day.
The grand design was created to respond to President Jokowi's directive to compose a long-term plan for Indonesia’s sports development at the last commemoration of National Sports Day in 2020, he stated.
Amali elaborated that the final draft of the grand design had taken into account inputs from national sports stakeholders, including the president, sports experts and academics, athletes, and national sports organisations, such as the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI) and the Indonesian Olympics Committee (KOI).
The grand design will serve as a blueprint to ensure systematic, continuous, and long-term sports development in Indonesia, he noted.
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"We should establish a 'factory' to produce potential athletes, and the Grand Design for National Sports is the basis for the factory," Amali emphasized.
The minister is upbeat that the grand design would enhance Indonesian athletes' potential to achieve the best results in international sports competitions, especially the Olympics and Paralympics.
"Did our recent achievements at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics achieved by a designed coaching regime? Unfortunately, no, all of those achievements are merely a stroke of luck. We can no longer rely this approach to win medals. We should set a sports coaching and development plan to improve our sportsmen’s quality and competitiveness," Minister Amali expounded.
The grand design set the Olympics and the Paralympics as the main long-term sporting goal, while regional competitions, such as the Asian Games and the SEA Games, are set as a temporary goal.
He made assurance that the grand design set out a comprehensive plan on multiple aspects of the national sports, including selection methods for potential athletes, while also determining the sports of national priority.
To materialize the grand design, the Youth and Sports Ministry will construct 10 training centres for potential athletes. The ministry will also place around 150 junior and senior athletes at the future training centre to be constructed in Cibubur, East Jakarta.
"We are optimistic that the grand design would be enacted by the presidential regulation, thereby ensuring official support from ministries, institutions, and regional governments to enhance national sports," Minister Amali noted.
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Translator: Shofi A, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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