OCM Weekly Highlights - 28th December 2008

OCM Weekly Highlights
28th December 2008

OCM Official Website: http://www.olympic.org.my/

Coming Events

FTAAA “One Mile Dash – New Year Bash” – 31st December 2008 at 8.00 p.m. from Jalan Doraisamy (KL’s Heritage Row) to Dataran Merdeka Kuala Lumpur.
FIBA – Asia International Referees Course – 9th & 10th January 2009 at MABA Stadium, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.
FIBA – Asia Match Commissioners Course – 11th & 12th January 2009 at MABA Stadium, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.
17th OCM Executive Board Meeting – 20th January 2009 at 4.30 p.m. at OCM Boardroom, 1st Floor, Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur
151st OCM Council Meeting – 7th February 2009 at 9.30 a.m. at Conference Room, Ground Floor, Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur.
OCM Sports Goodwill Ambassadors Annual Gathering – 7th February 2009 at 11.30 a.m. at Conference Room, Ground Floor, Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur.

News Items

Condolences

The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) was indeed greatly saddened by the sudden demise of DYMM Tuanku Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Ja'afar ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, who served as the Malaysia's 10th Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1994 to 1999. The late DYMM Tuanku Ja'afar is father to YAM Tunku Tan Sri Imran ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Ja'afar, President of OCM and IOC Member in Malaysia. The Executive Board & Council of the OCM and its affiliates express its deepest condolences to the Royal Family of Negeri Sembilan.

FTAAA Young Talent Athletics Meet

Further to the report on the final circuit of the Young Talent Athletics Meet held at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium on 21st December 2008, the details of the Meet are as follows. The Meet was held over three circuits, with the first circuit being held on 19th October, the second circuit on 23rd November and the third and final circuit on 21st December. All the three circuits were held at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium. Competitors at the three circuits were divided into 5 age groups for boys and for girls, as follows: Primary School Girls and Primary School Boys of ages 10 to 12 years, Lower Secondary School Girls and Lower Secondary School Girls of ages 13 and 14 years, Upper Secondary School Girls and Upper Secondary School Boys of ages 14 and 16 years, Senior Secondary School Girls and Senior Secondary School Boys of ages 17 and 18 years and Women’s Open and Men’s Open for over 18 years to 35 years (school leavers).

Of the 10 age groups, there were many participants in the 10 to 12 years and the 13 and 14 years age group, while the Men’s Open and Women’s Open categories had the least participants. In fact the Women’s Open category did not have a single entry in all three circuits.

The three circuits exposed some young athletes with good potential. In the 10 to 12 years age group, the average time of the first three winners of 33 sec. in 200m and 77 sec. in 400m for the girls and 30 sec in 200m and 68 sec in the 400m for the boys.

In the boys 13 and 14 years age group, Kesavan Maniraja ran the 400m in 58.6 sec. and the 800m in 2:11.4 which are very good times. In the boys 15 & 16 year, Muhd Shahril Adnan ran 400m in 56.3 sec. and 800m in 2:08.4 which are also very good times.

The following interesting observations should be noted:

* There are many young talented athletes waiting to be identified. There young athletes have strong parental support.

* Unfortunately, the drop-out rate is very high, as by 18 years and above, there were no longer any young men or young women interested to participate in athletics.

2nd National Inter-Club Handball Championship 2008

The 2nd National Inter-Club Handball Championship 2008 was held on 25th December 2008 at the OCM Indoor Sports Arena. 9 men’s team and 5 women’s participated in a single round knock-out competitions format. The interesting aspect of the Championship was that each team paid a participation fee of RM40/=. Of the RM560/= collected, RM300/= was paid to the 4 referees as allowance. RM200/= was paid to OCM for rental of the hall and the balance RM60/= was spent on miscellaneous items for the Championship. Milo very generously donated the Championship Trophies, one for the men and one for the women and also the winners’ medals to all four semi-finalists for the men’s and the women’s competitions.

At the very close and exciting men’s final, Hoisan KL became the champion, by beating UiTM Shah Alam, by 8 goals to 5. UPSI (Perak) was third with Melaka in fourth position. In the women’s final, Legend KL defeated UiTM Shah Alam by 10 goals to 3 to finish as Champion. UKM was third and UPSI fourth.

Overall the standard of Handball has improved, with many of the matches ending up with one goal difference between the winning teams and the losing teams. In the men’s competitions, UiTM Shah Alam, won all their matches by one goal, beating Gombak by 6 goals to 5 in the first round, and then Negeri Sembilan by a score of 10 goals to 9 in the next round and beating UPSI Perak in the semi-final with a score of 14 goals to 13.

Handball is a very popular sport at school level, with competitions for under 12 years, under 16 years and under 18 years. The sport is also very popular at university level, with MASUM organizing an annual championship for the university teams. Unfortunately, for many years there were no competitions for school leavers, who did not enter universities. Since 2006, The Malaysian Handball Federation has been organizing inter-club competitions open to teams with non-university players. Hoisan KL is one such team.

With every team paying a small participation fee, each time they competed, lack of funds was no longer a problem. The players themselves were quite happy to pay a small fee, as they realized that by not paying the small fee, they would not have the opportunity to pay competitive Handball. More sports, especially the less popular sports should use the Handball competition model to organize competitions at grass-roots level.

Virtual Olympic Congress

The deadline for the submission of contributions to the Virtual Olympic Congress has been extended to 28th February 2009. If you have not yet made your contribution to the Virtual Olympic Congress please do so immediately by registering at http://www.2009congress.olympic.org/en/Pages/default.aspx

Happy New Year

The Office Bearers and members of OCM wish to extend their greetings to all members of OCM, NSAs, Sponsors, Media, and etc., for a Happy, Successful and Prosperous New Year.