Majulah Sukan Untuk Negara
My humble suggestions to make soccer in Malaysia better.
1. Have the aspiring designers from the Malaysian's Runway Project design the team jerseys. Combining the sports and entertainments is a sure way to draw the crowd. Now the stadium would not only be filled with fans who go wooo and aaahh at the players skills (or lack thereof), but it also will be hear the vocal gestures of fans of fashions.
2. During a match, have a representative from each team, who must be a registered fan of the said team, to assist the commenter. Its easy to imagine how such setting can lead to unproductive bickering, so the contributions of the team representatives must be limited to provided factual information. They can argue, but the argument launches itself via proper and strategic insertion of facts, which are commonly lacking in the one-person commentator set up.
3. Introduce a team which comprises random persons who are willing to play without any compensation. Of course, they will be given the proper jersey (see 1 above), but they will not get any salary nor honorarium for playing. They play just for the kick of it. A person, perhaps a politician with too much time on his hand, or just trying to prove his mettle, can be appointed as team manager. The existence of this team is to add entertainment value to the league as a whole. With random player selection, with probably 15 different players in each match, the team can provide opportunity for other (proper) teams to score goals. Now fans can come to the stadium with the expectation that their team will beat the opponent and not return home frustrated. In case the ad hoc team actually beat a proper team, such team shall be automatically demoted to a lower league, regardless of their final position in the league.
4. The RTM can also play a role in promoting soccer. To increase the awareness and interest in soccer among the public, RTM must make compulsory of the inclusion of any soccer related elements in drama submitted to fill in the quota for air time. The previous practice of giving slots to friends and family can continue as long these friendly and familiar producers include soccer in their drama. Mind you, it must not be blatant; that approach is more suitable for documentaries. Rather, the drama should delicately impart wisdoms about the philosophy, professions, and practice of soccer in Malaysia. For example, a drama about lovers who were not meant to be for each other, usually ending in either or of them, or both, being dead or receiving some unspeakable fate, should have a happier and more optimistic ending. The guy could channel his frustration into soccer match that revealed his talent brilliantly. (And imagine how good he will look in the drama wearing designer jerseys). Or, the girl, instead of crying her eyes out, decided to participate in the local soccer fan club and end up being a successful jersey and merchandise entrepreneur.
5. Another role that RTM can play is to replace the soccer commentator with a 16-year old nerd who learned about soccer from online resources, especially You Tube. The audience will finally have, and guilt free, reasons to be entertained by this guy. Of course, to increase his appeal to the public, the nerd would have to be donned with designer clothing. This task could well be the final ultimate challenge for the aspiring designers.
The aims of the suggestions above are to increase general level of interest in soccer, and increase the attendance of paying audience at the stadium. It is a sad thing that the current attendance level is lower than the number of students achieving straight A’s in PMR and SPM. Are we, as a nation, better at producing academic scorers than producing people who’d be delighted to see scores on the picth? Pathetic, really. So, we can reverse the apathy by doing something about how the players and soccer itself is presented to the public. I shall be silent about the management of soccer at the national level, because they seemed to have as much credibility as the England FA. The comparison shall have to wait another time.
1. Have the aspiring designers from the Malaysian's Runway Project design the team jerseys. Combining the sports and entertainments is a sure way to draw the crowd. Now the stadium would not only be filled with fans who go wooo and aaahh at the players skills (or lack thereof), but it also will be hear the vocal gestures of fans of fashions.
2. During a match, have a representative from each team, who must be a registered fan of the said team, to assist the commenter. Its easy to imagine how such setting can lead to unproductive bickering, so the contributions of the team representatives must be limited to provided factual information. They can argue, but the argument launches itself via proper and strategic insertion of facts, which are commonly lacking in the one-person commentator set up.
3. Introduce a team which comprises random persons who are willing to play without any compensation. Of course, they will be given the proper jersey (see 1 above), but they will not get any salary nor honorarium for playing. They play just for the kick of it. A person, perhaps a politician with too much time on his hand, or just trying to prove his mettle, can be appointed as team manager. The existence of this team is to add entertainment value to the league as a whole. With random player selection, with probably 15 different players in each match, the team can provide opportunity for other (proper) teams to score goals. Now fans can come to the stadium with the expectation that their team will beat the opponent and not return home frustrated. In case the ad hoc team actually beat a proper team, such team shall be automatically demoted to a lower league, regardless of their final position in the league.
4. The RTM can also play a role in promoting soccer. To increase the awareness and interest in soccer among the public, RTM must make compulsory of the inclusion of any soccer related elements in drama submitted to fill in the quota for air time. The previous practice of giving slots to friends and family can continue as long these friendly and familiar producers include soccer in their drama. Mind you, it must not be blatant; that approach is more suitable for documentaries. Rather, the drama should delicately impart wisdoms about the philosophy, professions, and practice of soccer in Malaysia. For example, a drama about lovers who were not meant to be for each other, usually ending in either or of them, or both, being dead or receiving some unspeakable fate, should have a happier and more optimistic ending. The guy could channel his frustration into soccer match that revealed his talent brilliantly. (And imagine how good he will look in the drama wearing designer jerseys). Or, the girl, instead of crying her eyes out, decided to participate in the local soccer fan club and end up being a successful jersey and merchandise entrepreneur.
5. Another role that RTM can play is to replace the soccer commentator with a 16-year old nerd who learned about soccer from online resources, especially You Tube. The audience will finally have, and guilt free, reasons to be entertained by this guy. Of course, to increase his appeal to the public, the nerd would have to be donned with designer clothing. This task could well be the final ultimate challenge for the aspiring designers.
The aims of the suggestions above are to increase general level of interest in soccer, and increase the attendance of paying audience at the stadium. It is a sad thing that the current attendance level is lower than the number of students achieving straight A’s in PMR and SPM. Are we, as a nation, better at producing academic scorers than producing people who’d be delighted to see scores on the picth? Pathetic, really. So, we can reverse the apathy by doing something about how the players and soccer itself is presented to the public. I shall be silent about the management of soccer at the national level, because they seemed to have as much credibility as the England FA. The comparison shall have to wait another time.
Comments
I do agree on some points, being fan participation and using the media to increase the awareness of our football clubs. However, in the long run i do believe in the age old adage "if you have money, anything is possible"; which lead me to believe that the ban on cigarette or alcohol advertisements are crippling the state of football in malaysia in the long run.
Consider this, prior to the ban, state run clubs had an adequate grassroot or youth networks which allowed a healthy flow of fresh talent. This is backed up by the fact that a few years later, kids such as Titus James, Akmal Rizal, Jazaili Samion etc were foreign based football players from Malaysia. While the facts are not with me and i am embarrassed to come to this hasty conclusion, they were in my opinion likely to have been passionate about their future in football during those times and received some professional coaching of sort prior to their stint abroad.
Fast forward to this day, apart from the two youngsters who are attached to EPL clubs Fulham and Birmingham, young kids who have a passion in the game may have to enrol themselves into private organizations ala Brazil Football Academy in KL to improve their game. This is not feasible for the hypothetical talented young small town lad but for their family's with limited resources is unable to receive the proper coaching and education. This should be the role of a football club, which coincidentally and logically need money for the upkeep of their scouting and coaching of youngsters. Where money is not an issue, the clubs could conduct regular community initiatives such as "mini league and knock out" competitions where scouts may cherry pick fresh talent on a frequent basis and have events aimed at families' weekend outings to give everyone a connection to the clubs.
That said, there are so many things to comment upon but i'm afraid i would have to write a dossier on this subject which will take up your time and space. I sincerely do hope the FAM would get it right and improve the state of football in this country. That said, MAJULAH SUKAN UNTUK NEGARA!