Kota Kinabalu: Young footballers in Sabah cannot just rely on talent and skill to make the sport a rewarding career but must also pay attention to other small things unrelated to football such as how to dispose trash properly.
Former Sabah FC head coach, Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, said this is where the difference lies between youngsters in Europe and Malaysia who dream to become professional players.
“I’ve witnessed that in Europe, the children and teenagers would dispose of their plastic waste properly in plastic waste bins after football training.
They don’t have to be told to do this. It’s like they have been taught that it’s the right way.
“This is just a small thing and has nothing to do with football. But when you think about it, such a habit matters a lot when we talk about self-discipline. If we want to aim to accomplish big things in life, we must learn to value the little things first,” he said.
Kurniawan, who is currently working as assistant coach for newly promoted Italian Serie A club, Como, was back in Sabah over the weekend to conduct a football clinic organised by Jubilo Football Academy at SRS Simon Fung field, Saturday.
He stressed the importance of having the right mindset if any aspiring Sabah youngster dreams of playing professionally at the highest level.
According to him, many youngsters in Europe who set their mind on becoming a professional football player maintain the highest self-discipline right from the young age.
“With support and encouragement from their family, they pay close attention to every aspect of their development from their diet, lifestyle and attitude. And they take this very seriously because they want to make sure they will become professional players.
“Usually, some of them will sign a professional contract at the age of 19. But there are those who are deemed to be exceptionally talented who are offered a contract at much younger age,” he said.
He believed it is not impossible for any Sabahan youngster to be able to play in the world’s top leagues if they develop their right winning mindset and attitude.
But he said this is not an easy path considering that statistically, only a small percentage of the tens of thousands of aspiring young footballers in Europe have made it as professional players.
Making the chances even slimmer, Kurniawan said European clubs have a limited quota for the signing of foreign players. “But still, it’s not impossible.
It’s not easy to get to the top.
But it’s not impossible,” said Kurniawan who had during his younger days played for teams in Europe and the Indonesian national team.
He believed that when aspiring young local footballers develop a holistic mindset in life as well as in football, it will benefit the future of the sport in Sabah.
More than 100 children from the age of 6 to 16 participated in the football clinic.
Kurniawan’s countryman and current Rhino, Saddil Ramdani, who was also present praised the organisers of the football clinic and stressed the importance of youngsters being given the space and opportunity to develop their talent.
“Until I was 15 years old, I played football like any other kids. I played for fun. There was no academy,” he said.
Meanwhile, academy chairman Mohd Syarulnizam Salleh said he hoped their systematic and structured approach to training would help create the exposure and visibility for aspiring young footballers in Sabah to go far.
