BAM must reconsider its decision on Zii Jia

 

From Kua Kia Soong

It is challenging to fathom the thinking behind the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) suspension of Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei from competing for two years because of a decision to turn professional and leave the national set-up.

Firstly, such a ruling is a glaring example of bad parenting when proven evidence regarding progressive nurturing and parenting abounds.

Secondly, there are multiple international examples to the contrary, in which athletes who have left their national “institutional nest” were able to continue to represent their respective countries.

There is no disguising the tone in BAM’s action that Zii Jia has shown no gratitude to the association for nurturing him for 11 years or so.

This is the sort of guilt trip some parents give their children when it is time for them to fly the nest.

Watching children spread their wings and develop an independent path into the future can be hard for parents, and wise parents support this essential stage of their children’s growth as they mature into adults themselves.

It’s perfectly understandable to feel dejected when our children develop more and more independence to do what they must do.

When I left home at 19 years of age to go abroad in the 1960s, it was liberating even though it was painful to leave my parents and family at the time. I can empathise with Zii Jia when he says that he cannot stand the pressure of being in the national squad and that life in BAM is regimented.

For all the best intentions of parents, many kids find their home environment rather stifling and “difficult”.

Are Zii Jia’s requests to have his own team of coaches and support service, to plan his own tournaments and to have his own sponsors extreme?

According to BAM’s second deputy president and legal committee chairman Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, the association found these requirements “impossible to be fulfilled” and “unrealistic”.

For a player who is the defending champion at the All-England championship, I don’t think these requests are far-fetched.

BAM would do well to realise that they are the ones who are unrealistic and do not appreciate the present realities of professional sport.

Let us look at just two examples. There is Tokyo Olympics badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, who has moved lock stock and barrel to Dubai with his family to take up training there. He is no longer training with the Danish national team that trains in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He will, however, still be competing under the Danish flag and continues to maintain communication and cooperation with the coaches in Denmark.

In Dubai, Axelsen has his daily training sessions at the NAS Sports Complex (Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex) and this has thus far yielded very positive results for him.

This is how Axelsen describes the facilities there.

“The facilities are absolutely fantastic, and I decide my programme myself.

“I can just say that I would like to train from 9am to 11pm and 2pm to 4pm today, and that tomorrow I would like to go over to the recovery department and have an ice bath, sauna and a check of my fat percentage – and it will be just like that.

“In one room, you can simulate altitude training at up to 2,000 metres altitude. In another, you can simulate humidity. In the third, you can get cryotherapy, where you cool the body down to increase blood circulation.

“There are underwater cameras in the pools, so all your movements are recorded when you recover after an injury. That’s how I can keep going. There is everything.”

Many famous sports superstars, including Novak Djokovic and Paul Pogba, have trained at the NAS complex.

I believe Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew has also decided to train there. As far as we know, the Singapore government has not ostracised Kean Yew for his decision to train in Dubai, away from the Singapore team.

They know it is an important part of professional sports today.

And there is the well-known case of China’s Grand Slam champion Li Na who left the Chinese tennis regime to go on her own. And note how far she went!

Her complaint before she went solo sounds familiar: “If I have no freedom, I’m going to quit.”

Another Chinese tennis star, Peng Shuai, had been making similar demands.

To avert a full-blown departure of their top stars and to help them realise their potential, the Chinese authorities soon introduced a policy called danfei, or “fly solo”.

Under the new rules, Li Na, Peng Shuai and two others would still have obligations to the national and provincial teams, but they would be allowed to hire their own coaches, set their own schedules, and keep a far greater percentage of their earnings.

The rest is history. In 2014, Lina won the Australian Open singles in style while Peng Shuai won the doubles championship at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014.

As a sports enthusiast and a badminton player, I, and I am sure many Malaysians, hope that BAM reconsiders its decision.

Too many unforced errors will surely kill our advantage in the game.

Badminton is perhaps the key sport that Malaysia is noted for in the world. We have produced so many luminaries since Wong Peng Soon.

After Lee Chong Wei, our latest hopeful is Lee Zii Jia. Let us allow him to fly the nest since that is what he says he needs after 11 years under the parenting wing of BAM.

BAM can pat themselves on the back for supporting his skill building thus far and now it is time to move to the next stage of giving this maturing talent all the encouragement he needs to succeed at the top on his terms.

Offering him financial incentives is missing the point, and then suspending him for two years is not only unjust, but also simply a wild shot! - FMT

Kua Kia Soong is a former Johor state schools badminton player.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.