MOVE TO MOULD ATHLETES FROM YOUNG AGE

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- To have athletes of international
standards Malaysia will have a new approach of training them at a young age.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the approach used
now through the education system was less than appropriate.

"An athlete should start at a young age and the focus of his or her sport
should be on the body form and the like," he told reporters after a visit to the
Tun Razak Hockey Stadium here Monday.

Ahmad Shabery said in some countries, like China, the selection of athletes
was done while they were still children and that is why such countries had a
large pool of athletes.

"Two schools now - the Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil and the Sekolah Sukan
Bandar Penawar- should not also focus on all sports," he said.

The schools had however produced good athletes like Lee Chong
Wei(badminton), cyclists and archers," he said.

Other world standard athletes like Nicol Ann David (squash), Shalin
Zulkifli (ten-pin bowling) and Nurul Huda Bahrain (swimming) however were the
product of other methods, he said.

Ahmad Shabery said a body would be set up to study approaches in depth and
the matter would also be brought to the joint committee of his ministry, the
Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry soon.
--BERNAMA