WHEN sports teams underperform, the classic knee-jerk reaction is usually to fire the coach, change association leaders, or cut funds until the athletes perform better. This kind of negative reinforcement may work for kindergarten children, but we are dealing with high-performance adults, who are much further along in their psychological and professional development.

There is a need for a strategic shift in attitude and allocation if Malaysia is going to match its perceived vision of itself and the required image to be projected on the regional and global stage. How the nation competes, how an association competes and ultimately how an athlete competes is a function of the system that they are produced from.

Do we have an understanding of the competitive landscape in which national sports associations compete with their counterparts across Asean? In the first instance, each sporting group should have information on their competitor associations. For example, their funds – how much resources are brought to bear – including annual budgets, number of coaches, support staff and the average number of fans at games.

This matrix of data – economic data, not just sporting data – should then be set against the medal tally. As Prof Daniel Johnson says: “It’s just pure economics.”

His medal predictions often reach above 90% accuracy for Olympic tallies. Who will be the hotshot Malaysian economist who can make a name for themself in this field?

Time is a critical factor in sports development. It takes at least 10 years to develop a high-performance athlete, depending on the sport, taking into consideration peak performance ages and the average career span for that particular sport. This means sports development needs to be a long-term affair not just a two-year project.

The resources required over the high-performance phase of an athlete’s career required to allow them to perform at medal-winning pace, along with the business intelligence of what competitors from other countries are allocated with, will allow for meaningful gap analysis and informed decisions. The data required is beyond the performance data of other countries’ athletes. 

At the national level, there is a need to understand the economic and social footprint of each sport. The sum value of a sports ecosystem in Malaysia needs to be known in detail so output can be put into context. Looking at this data will allow the public and planners alike to know how the country is performing in any given sporting event. 

The rationalisation and understanding of the competitive environment in which sportsmen operate must be a core competency of national sports bodies, along with the deepening and widening of the development pyramid while establishing clear pathways for athletes to succeed on the national, regional and international stages.

For those who have been at the coalface of sports development either as an athlete, coach or administrator will know that to ascend to the next level, resources are required. More coaching, better equipment, international competition exposure, better food, sports psychology and physiotherapy, to name just a few. If a competitor has more, you are at a strategic disadvantage before the games even begin.

But the exponential resources required for incremental improvement needs to be understood. High-performance sports are the domain of the top 0.5% with winning margins thinner the higher the level of competition. The men’s 100m finals at the SEA Games saw a gap of less than half a second between the gold medallist and last finisher. A country presents the nation’s best as a matter of pride and as a statement of national development, which is why economists can predict medal tallies.

For a sustainable future, the answer is not to give less to those who don’t do well. The answer is more for all and extra for those who did well as a reward for success. The only rational way forward will be a “balanced scorecard” or “performance matrix”, which can be developed to understand the “money in, medals out” concept. – May 23, 2023.

* Nordin Abdullah is Malaysia Cricket Association exco.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.