Not to flog a dead horse but I just wanted to share some experience what with the brouhaha re. football in Malaysia and hopefully hear from you out there.
My 11 year old son is an avid football player and I watch all his school team & club (First Touch) matches barring any serious scheduling conflict.
I have observed a few things that may explain why football will not get anywhere in Malaysia in its current state.
1. Everywhere else in the world, they play 8 a side for under 12, but here during MSS Petaling district matches (12 and under) and current Piala Bandaraya MBPJ (11 and under) we play 11 a side.
2. FIFA recommends a size 4 ball for 12 and under but in his school matches he plays with size 5. FirstTouch does observe size 4 balls though, so can you imagine, weekday play size 4 and weekend play size 5.
3. During the recently concluded MSS Petaling District tourney, no proper officials (Ref/Linesman) were available to referee matches. Usually a neutral teacher would become a "bidan terjun" Ref, and so off he goes in his slippers, to referee the match. Once, the teacher cum ref didn't wear his watch so the match went on and on!
The worst part is, we know a budget was allocated for the running of the tournament, which includes, allowances for match officials. Where the cash actually went is anybody's guess!
4.For Piala Bandaraya, MBPJ has done well with proper match officials but their organisation is really poor. The team will only find out on the day itself that they are playing two matches instead of one!
And to make thing worst, some schools cheat. They field Std 6 kids when the tourney is for Std 5 and under. Nobody knows as the don't check the player register against the birth cert, In any case, no photo on birth cert so they can easily borrow somebody's birth cert I suppose. I only hope the kids themselves are not aware that they are not supposed to be playing. I mean, if they cheat on teachers orders, can you imagine?
So if you think the national team is bad, the current 12 year olds will be just as bad, judging from my observations above.
Re: State of Grass Roots Football in Malaysia
Bro,
Is you kid gonna go for the Scomi MyKids try out?
It's heartening that a corporate citizen is doing its part to uplift the standards of Malaysian football.
Re: State of Grass Roots Football in Malaysia
Oh yes, we had heard about it through his First Touch club about a month ago. Him and probably most of his team from Std 5 & Std 6 will be there. He has also made plans with a Uni friend's son from Penang to be there. The Penang folks are quite miffed Scomi didn't include them!
Anyway, not to sound negative, but he'll be there more for the experience. Interestingly, about two years back, First Touch brought about 20 kids to train in Man U Soccer School for a week, sponsored by Magnum (of all people!). My son didn't go then as he hadn't joined yet. A few of the kids impressed the coaches and I believe one got to attend the Summer Training (one month) fully paid for by Man U.
Just to clarify, I am NOT a Utd fan.