National athletes not made at universities

03/07/1997

UNIVERSITIES are not where national athletes are made, they come from
schools, said Universiti Malaya (UM) director of sports Chua Ah Tok in
Petaling Jaya yesterday.
"We don't produce national athletes, the handful that come our way have
already made their name earlier. We just prepare them further," said Chua.
"It is unfair to compare local university athletes with those in the
United States (US) because we have a different education system.
"Here we need a minimum qualification to make the cut, excelling in
sport alone is not enough to guarantee a seat in university."
In the US, top basketball, American football and baseball players are
given certain privileges so that they can play at university level.
"There is very little time to train and take part in competitions if an
athlete is studying to become an engineer or a doctor, only a few can make
time. People like national hockey player Brian Jayhan Siva are hard to
come by.
"Somehow, he managed to do both at the same time. Most other athletes
stop active participation once they move into their second and third years
when their grades take a dip."
Meanwhile, Malaysia may not send athletes to the World University Games
in August in Sicily Italy.
This is because UM will only get the mandate to run things from
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) this week and this, according to
Chua, leaves them with little time to prepare matters.
UKM are vet to select athletes.
(END)