Kota Kinabalu: Assistant Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Jahid Jahim will suggest to the National Sports Council to include Women's Football as one of the sports in the Malaysia Games (Sukma).
Jahid, who is one of the board of directors for the National Sports Council, said he will propose the idea to the Council following a suggestion by the Sabah Women's Football Association to have it included in Sukma.
"The Sabah Women's Football Association has come to me to suggest that the sport be included in Sukma. I think women's football is getting increasingly popular in the country and deserves to be developed further.
I will propose this to the Council in the next meeting.
"I think it would be great for Sabah if the Council decides to take up the idea because we have a lot of players who play the sport well and some are even on the national team," said Jahid.
He said this when officiating the football clinic for the 2009 Malaysia-USA Women Soccer Exchange Programme at the Likas Stadium here, Wednesday.
Also present were Malaysian Women's Football Association Vice President, Dr. Rajeswari Nagaraja, Ladies Football Association of Malaysia Vice President, Tunku Ellie Badariah Tunku Ahmad, Sabah Women's Football Association President, Datin Malianah Ugau and FAM Head of Women's Department, Alina Cheong, among others.
Some 100 students from 10 schools (St Peter Telipok, SMK Limbanak, SMK Kolombong, SMK St Francis Convent, SMK Bahang, SM All Saints, SMK Likas, SMK Inanam, SM St Michael and SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin) took part in the one-day clinic, conducted by former US national women's soccer players, Karen Marie Willoughby, Anna Maria Shortt Janine Marie Szpara and Joy Lynn Boswell.
The programme, which is organised by the USA Department of State and Football Association of Malaysia, is the first time for Sabah after the first programme in Malaysia was conducted in 2006.
According to Willoughby, who is also Programme Director for The International Centre's (an American NGO) Sports Corps Division, the objective of the whole programme is to form closer ties between the American and Malaysian Governments through sports associations.
She added that between 12 and 15 young Malaysian women footballers will be selected to go with them back to the US for further exposure.
"We will select some players from the three states that we visited during this programme, including Sabah, and bring them back to the US for a short visit to give them more exposure.
"We will bring who we think will be good ambassadors for Malaysia, so that our people can have a better understanding of what Malaysians are like and so that they can have a better understanding of Americans," said Willoughby.
Commenting on the ability of the students that attended the clinic, Willoughby said, "Their skill level is higher than their fitness level and I notice they want more opportunities to play football and are really enthusiastic".
She also said that they chose Sabah as among the three states for their programme (apart from Pahang and Kuala Lumpur) because of the good organisation showed by the local government.
Jahid, earlier urged all the students to make the best of their opportunity to learn as much as possible from the American coaches.
"Out of hundreds of thousands of students throughout the state, you are the lucky few who are given this opportunity to come face to face with these American coaches.
"They are highly qualified coaching personnel who work for some of the top women's clubs in their country and they have come here to share their knowledge and experiences with you. Make the best from this opportunity," he said.
On Tuesday, the Youth and Sports Ministry also hosted a welcome dinner for the US visitors, who, among the four women coaches, included Head of the US International Sports Corps, Bob Schiffer and Head of NIKE Marketing US, Chris Helzer.
The dinner, which was held at Kampung Nelayan Seafood Restaurant in Bukit Padang here, gave the visitors a rich culture experience while Ministry officials took the opportunity to mingle and discuss openly with the visitors about their local programmes.