December 26, 2019
The annual Students’ Sports Festival, which started in 1998 and was suspended since 2012, resumed in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday, raising hopes of producing talented athletes who can earn laurels for the country in international competitions.
Students from the regions and states are taking part in the 2019-2020 edition of the festival.
The festival is being held as part of efforts to achieve success in the 12th ASEAN Students Sports Festival in 2020.
The students sports festival can help produce young talented athletes, develop sports at the national level, and gain recognition at the international level. In these efforts, not just the skills of athletes, but the efforts of coaches and managers play an important role.
Success in sports is a matter of pride for the nation, and in producing outstanding athletes who can make the country proud, the six sports and physical training institutes are playing a most important role.
Trainers and coaches need to provide modern training to athletes and they need to constantly be abreast of the modern sports techniques used by countries with international achievements.
Meanwhile, it is important to computerize the records on health, fitness, and progress of each athlete after monitoring their year-round training.
Records of athletes should be compared with those of players from South East Asia, Asia, and the world. Elite and talented athletes should be provided special training.
The Ministry of Health and Sports must invest more in providing more nutritious food to athletes, and athletes, on their part, must commit to becoming outstanding players by training with zeal.
For the development of sports in the country, a symposium attended by principals, trainers, coaches, and athletes of the country’s six institutes is an urgent need so that methods of athlete selection can be reviewed and standards for the six institutes can be set.
Sports can help us understand the strength in our diversity and that our unity is our strength. We all celebrate the achievements of all players, regardless of their ethnicity.
We would be better off if we invest in sports and utilize its unifying appeal. After all, if we can create a generation of heroes who bring pride to our motherland, then we may truly become a nation bonded by freedom, peace, and unity.
