The day has, over the years, been commemorated with different themes, but they have all had the same intent and purpose: to develop the spirit of nationality in the Republic of Indonesia.
The day has also served as a reminder of the importance of sports as a foundation of national character.
This has especially been reflected in the themes of National Sports Day in the past five years. The commemoration of the 34th Haornas in 2017 was themed “Sport Unites Us.”
Meanwhile, the theme of the 35th Haornas in 2018 was "Let's Do Sport, Develop Indonesia" and that for the next year was “Let's Do Sport, Anywhere, Anytime.”
From 2020, the theme started to focus on improving Indonesia's sports achievements. Accordingly, the theme for the 37th Haornas was “Sport Science, Sport Tourism, and Sports Industry.”
At the time, President Joko Widodo asked Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali to redesign the athlete guidance system on a massive scale from the regional to the central level.
This came to fruition in 2021 and corresponded with the commemoration of the 38th Haornas. The Youth and Sports Ministry also released a sports guidance blueprint called the DBON.
Consequently, Haornas' theme in 2021 became “The Grand Design of National Sports toward Developed Indonesia.”
Ever since then, the minister and other stakeholders have continued to implement DBON as a means to change the paradigm of Indonesian sports.
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Producing champions together
The theme of this year's National Sports Day, “Producing Champions Together,” is a part of DBON's implementation.
It is meant to reflect Indonesia’s large potential for producing champions if all parties unite to develop national sports.
The development of national sports cannot be undertaken at the individual level. It necessitates collaboration, cooperation, and synergy from all parties.
According to the DBON, Indonesia's 17 ministries or institutions, 34 provinces, and 517 cities or districts, must work together to produce resilient athletes capable of promoting the nation on the global stage.
The existence of DBON has been laid down in Presidential Regulation No. 86 of 2022, which has been further bolstered by the support of many parties.
Thus, the time has come for Indonesia to produce champions once more. Wanting to become a developed country necessitates furthering sports achievements. Sports also serve as a symbol of a country's human resources.
DBON should also be accompanied by consistent implementation.
This is a massive undertaking that should involve all strata of society, not just the central government. Young talent usually emerges from the regions. Hence, everyone should collaborate in advancing Indonesian sports.
The National Sports Day 2022 has become a momentum to produce potential athletes through the DBON.
To realize this, the government has rolled out several new programs to identify potential athletes who can be groomed to compete at the Olympic level.
Guidance will be provided to athletes continuously from upstream to downstream, starting from the beginning of talent scouting until they become Olympic champions.
Thus, the DBON is not just a concept, but a program that has been realized.
The various existing supports have become a road to realizing the collective goal to advance sports in Indonesia. It is now only a matter of uniting similar mindsets toward sports guidance.
DBON implementation
The DBON provides guidance for developing national sports. Various aspects have been considered in the program, including athletes’ deployment to multi-events.
The Olympics has been established as the main achievement target under the program, while the Asian Games and Sea Games have been relegated to intermediary targets.
DBON's implementation has been expanded on this basis. For instance, during the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, the ministry carried out stringent selections for sports branch deployment.
Despite sending a smaller squad compared to the one that competed in the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, Indonesian managed to place in the top three, with a total medal collection of 69 golds, 92 silvers, and 81 bronzes.
This is one of the concrete examples of the new paradigm of DBON.
Another example is athlete recruitment in universities, such as Surabaya State University (UNESA) and Jakarta State University (UNJ).
Developing sports in a better direction necessitates a process that cannot be done instantly. Producing sports achievements requires long-term planning and structured and continuous guidance with the help of other elements.
Indonesia can no longer get achievements by accident, it needs to claim them by design. Hence, anything related to achievement guidance should have a clear reference, measurement, and be adaptable to various conditions.
DBON is a concrete step toward realizing modern sports ecosystem management. It is an integrated design with a large vision to realize a fit Indonesia with superior character and world-class achievements.
Though the DBON has been formulated, the road to national sports achievement is still very long. It will take collective commitment and consistency to realize the noble goal of producing sports champions.
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Translator: Muhammad Ramdan, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
