KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — After a long break, the government has allowed Malaysians in the phase two and three categories of the movement control order to take part in sporting activities.
And for people like former national shuttler Jason Wong, this means he can reopen his coaching centre, JWS Badminton Academy, with one-to-one coaching sessions starting this week while group sessions will start in October.
Wong told Malay Mail that resuming coaching should not be a problem even if the cases have not been completely resolved, as long as the standard operating procedures (SOP) are observed during the training.
He added that his students were thrilled to hear of the reopening of sports facilities, although parents of children under the age of 12 seemed to be worried as their kids were unfamiliar with the SOP and had not yet been vaccinated.
The former badminton star said parents do not need to worry as his management would have proper instructions for kids aged below 12 years and set up a suitable training station for them to practice.
He added that each trainee would receive shuttlecock tubes to store their shuttlecocks so that they do not have to share them with anyone in order to prevent clusters.
“We have set up the station for them to be there at all times and they are not going to mix with anyone from another station. So they have their own station and their seating will be far from one another,” he said.
“Our academy has prepared its own SOP and sanitisation tunnels for them to use before and after each session.
“Each player will be given two to three shuttlecock tubes with their own shuttlecocks in it to play and everyone needs to wear their face shield and mask before and after their training session.”
According to Wong, it was essential to resume coaching in order to prepare his athletes for upcoming championships including the Deaflympics 2022 in Brazil and he credited Malaysia Deaf Sports Association (MSDEAF) for giving him that responsibility.
He said that his coaching with the renowned special category athletes Boon Wei Ying and Muhammad Syafiq Hassan will begin next month.
Glad to be back
Yap Wai Ken, who plays badminton, said that he felt happy and safe to return to the court because he knew that 80 per cent of the population had received both their vaccine shots.
“For the past four months, we haven’t had the opportunity to play together, so I’ve been looking forward to this chance for quite some time,” he said.
Angela George said she was initially excited about returning to the badminton courts until she noticed a large crowd playing.
“I still played but kept my distance. After all, you don’t know if another lockdown will happen.”
“I feel happy that after a long time, I get to play my favourite sports but the moment I enter the court I was worried to see the crowd over here,” she explained.
Futsal player, Ady Shamil, told Malay Mail that he was still worried although the number of cases were dropping in Klang Valley.
However, he emphasised the practice of SOP among citizens to prevent Covid-19 in order to sustain sports freedom given by the authorities.
“I’m a little scared about stepping out and playing, but the most important thing is that I follow the government’s SOP,” he said.
“I’m doing my part to break the spread chain, such as frequently sanitising my hands and keeping a physical distance from others.
