Sport Development

Malaysia's sports should change from the traditional mindset, that is after school/academic studies, most sports person drop out from their sport, prompting the saying Universities are the graveyards of sports...

On another point.... Sarawak Football

Friday, September 26th, 2008 (Borneo Post)
Turning point for Sarawak football By Martin Yee
KUCHING: Football development in the state has been given a much-needed leg-up with Social Development and Urbanisation Ministry set to spearhead a programme aimed at transforming grass-roots talents into future state players.
A holistic approach under a new Sarawak development steering committee will form the cornerstone of this new initiative to ensure the continual flow of potential players to the senior team.
The long-term strategy – from now till 2012 – will target two Sukmas and to meet this goal, agencies like Sarawak State Sports Council, Youth and Sports Department, Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and Education Department will be roped in. The new strategy, likely to take off in November, will include upgrading of school coaches and a series of competitions enhanced with adequate facilities and coaching.
The development thrust will be on the Under-17 to 21 groups and the steering committee will be tasked with monitoring the trainees after they leave school.
Those who decide to stay with the programme will be paid an allowance.
Players who have shown promise stand a good chance of being absorbed into the senior team.
Meanwhile, FAS, now relieved of the ‘development’ responsibility, will take charge of only the senior team competing in the M-League. Sarawak have been relegated to the Premier League after finishing last in the Super League last season.
However, the association will not be totally divorced from the committee in charge of development since its president, Daro assemblyman Murni Suhaili, is deputy chairman of the committee, headed by Ik Pahon Joyik, permanent secretary to Social Development and Urbanisation Ministry.
Sarawak State Sports Council, represented by director Francis Nyurang Ding, will be the government body responsible for implementing development of the game on the ground.
At a press conference to announce the new steering committee, Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Dato Sri William Mawan Ikom said the ministry had looked at various aspects of football development and agreed the task would be best handled by forming a steering committee.
“We can now move forward and hope this will be the turning point for football development in the state,” he added.

Gambar Team Sarawak

Pictures from Ultracrocs....

Neathen Gibson

Neathan Gibson will begin his third year as head coach of the Ferris State University women's soccer program in the fall of 2008 after being appointed to the position permanently on Jan. 29, 2007.
Gibson, who has a wide array of various coaching and playing experience at the international level, previously served as FSU's interim head coach during the 2006 fall campaign.
Gibson served as the interim head coach prior to the start of the 2006 season following the departure of former head coach Melissa Lalonde in early August. In his first year, Gibson directed the Bulldogs to a 7-11 overall mark along with a fifth-place tying 3-5 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) finish. Ferris' seven victories tied for the sixth-highest seasonal total in school history while the squad's 120 total points and 46 goals both represented the highest single-season production in school history. Gibson also had the opportunity to coach the first All-America player in the program's history when former standout Kristie Smilanich received 2006 Daktronics All-America First-Team accolades.
Prior to his stint as interim coach, Gibson worked as the director of coaching and player development for the Grand Valley Soccer Club based in Kentwood, Mich. While with the organization, Gibson held various head coaching duties and led the program's under 17 girls squad to both a Midwest Divisional Championship and Midwest Regional League First Division title in 2005. The club won three state cup boys championships during the 2005 campaign. Gibson also paired with current Central Michigan women's soccer head coach Tony DiTucci to guide an Olympic Development Program (ODP) team to a regional championship and national tournament berth.
Besides working with the Grand Valley Soccer Club, Gibson also ran his own professional soccer training company, Instinct 4 Goal. The company, which was established in 2004, helped players achieve success both on and off the soccer field.
Gibson was the head coach for the West Michigan Edge, a Premier Development League (PDL) squad in the United Soccer League (USL), from November 2003 to November 2004. His duties with the Edge included working as the camp and clinic director, serving as the director of coaching and player development along with responsibilities involving housing and recruiting players.
During his career, Gibson has earned both United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "A" and "B" Coaching Licenses. From February 2002 to November 2003, Gibson was involved in various capacities with the Des Moines (Iowa) Menace organization in the PDL. He was a player, assistant coach, academy coach, camp and clinic director as well as the group's Assistant Academy Technical Director during his tenure.
As a player, Gibson signed his first professional indoor soccer contract with the San Jose Grizzlies of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) in 1994. He also played outdoors in Malaysia with the Football Association of Sarawak (FAS), which finished as the Malaysian Cup Runner-up in 1995 and 1996. He was recognized as the top league cup goal scorer for Albirex Niigata in Japan during the 1997-98 season as the squad gained a promotion to the league's second division (J2 League). Gibson also played in the Swedish Premier League for IFK Norrkoping in 1997.
From 1998 to 2000, Gibson played two years in the Finnish Premier League for Myllykosken Pallo-47 where he finished second and fifth, respectively, among the league's goal scoring leaders. His squad earned bronze medals for finishing third in the league both years and qualified for the 2000 InterToto Cup against Xamax from Switzerland as Gibson set a new club single-season goal scoring record with 20 markers. Gibson's playing background also includes time with Major League Soccer's (MLS) Colorado Rapids and the USL's Rochester Raging Rhinos in 2001. The Rhinos won the 2001 USL A-League Championship. Gibson coached youth boys and girls squads overseas in both Finland and Japan during his playing career.
Gibson graduated in May 1994 from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., with a bachelor's degree in business administration and an accounting major. During his collegiate playing career for the Knights, Gibson was a first team National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American and claimed Most Valuable Player Award laurels in the 1994 National Collegiate Senior Bowl. He also helped lead Lynn to the NAIA National Championship in 1991.

Pernah sekali mek nanga Sarawak training di Stadium Negeri, pok tuk try shooting, bola alu bulan keluar stadium, patut pun semusim ajak....

Sarawak o Sarawak

KUCHING: Sarawak, long derailed from the Malaysian soccer scene, is making a determined effort to get “back on the right track.”Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Dato Sri William Mawan said yesterday, “With the restructuring of FAS and the establishment of Sarawak Football Development Steering Committee, we hope Sarawak can make a come back and move forward soon.”Speaking to reporters after meeting FAS officials in his office, Mawan said two ways had been identified to develop soccer in the state. One is “immediate term” and the other “long term”.He said the immediate term plan would be undertaken by FAS president Murni Suhaili and secretary-general Abu Bakar Marzuki. “For the intermediate term plan, FAS would be coming up with its own blueprint on the restructuring plans and strategies to improve the state senior soccer team in about two weeks time,” he said.For the long term development programme, it would be undertaken by the SFDSC which is headed by Social Development and Urbanisation Ministry permanent secretary Ik Pahon Joyik. He will be assisted by Murni, who is SFDSC deputy chairman.Mawan said the main idea in coming up with the twin development plans was to lay a solid foundation to ensure long term success by the state team, and soccer in general.“Without a solid foundation, what you win today can be gone tomorrow,” he reasoned.Meanwhile, Ik Pahon, who was also at the news conference, said the main idea behind the creation of the SFDSC was to bring in all parties involved in soccer development under one roof so that development could be implemented in a holistic manner.“In the past, the State Sports Council has their own football development programme, FAS has their own, Youth and Sports Department, and Education Department have theirs.“The new strategy is that all the football organisations will come together under one committee to chart programmes for, say, the next five years,” he said.Ik Pahon said the new framework would cover the development of players, organisation of more competitions, and upgrading of coaches at the school level.He explained that the immediate concern of the committee was what to do with the potential players who would be leaving school between the ages of 17 and 21.“This committee will keep track of footballers even after they left school. We will take care of them. Taking care means they will have to be with the team if they are still interested to play.“Maybe we have to pay some allowances so that they stick around. Hopefully, after that FAS can absorbed them into the senior team,” he said.

Oral Sex

What were you thinking??

Steven Gerard in England's Colours

Steven Gerrard

Wait for me

Steven Gerrard was born in Whiston, Merseyside and brought up in Huyton, Merseyside. While attending Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in West Derby, Liverpool, Gerrard was known to go on scouting trips to check out rival school teams. In 1994 — when he was in Year 9 — he was part of the Liverpool YTS scheme and almost made it into the England Schoolboys team, an odd quirk considering his now massively successful career. He is regarded as one of the best English footballers of his era.Unlike many other Liverpool legends such as Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher, Gerrard was actually a Liverpool fan as a youth.Incidentally, his younger cousin, Anthony Gerrard, is a professional footballer who began his career with city-rivals Everton, and now is a highly-rated squad member at League Two side Walsall.Gerrard is currently engaged to Alex Curran from Merseyside. The couple started dating in 2002, getting engaged in 2004, and plan to marry in the summer of 2007. The live in Formby, and have two daughters: Lily-Ella (born 23 February 2004) and Lexie (born 9 May 2006).Gerrard joined Liverpool as a schoolboy in 1989 and has come up through the ranks to the first team, in the footsteps of fellow homegrown youth academy seniors like Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. Gerrard made his Reds debut on the 30 November 1998 as a second-half substitute for Vegard Heggem against Blackburn. His full debut came in the UEFA Cup against Celta Vigo and despite the Reds losing on the night, Gerrard's widely-praised performance belied his tender years. He scored his first goal for the club on 5 December 1999 against Sheffield Wednesday in a match where Liverpool were inspired by their younger players when several of the more senior players missed the game through injury.Gerrard was one of three Liverpool players that scored in the famous World Cup qualifying game in September 2001 against Germany (1–5 away victory), which was his first international goal. That season, he started all three of Liverpool's Cup Finals, scoring the second goal against Alaves in the UEFA Cup Final. At the end of the season he was named PFA Young Player of the Year.Gerrard was approached by Chelsea to sign for them during the summer of 2004, but he eventually chose to stay at Liverpool. It is known that he was on the brink of signing for the London club but was persuaded to stay because of his family and friends. It was also alleged in the British tabloid press that Gerrard had been the target of death threats from aggrieved Liverpool fans. The arrival of new Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez also played a part in his decision.It is widely thought that the club captaincy was handed to Gerrard in 2003–04 season so that he could inspire his teammates, and to compel him to take responsibility for his own indifferent disciplinary record, which apparently worked as in the 2003–2004 season, he was booked only twice. Former Liverpool team mate, Michael Owen, expressed relief in his autobiography at Gerrard being named captain in 2003–2004, as it took some pressure off his own shoulders.A foot injury sustained against rivals Manchester United on 20 September 2004 ruled him out of first team football until late November 2004. In the final game of that year's Champions League group stage Gerrard scored a crucial twenty-five-yard strike against Greek team Olympiakos. Liverpool needed to win by two clear goals to progress to the last sixteen of the competition. They were 1–0 down at half-time, but scored two goals before Gerrard secured their place with their third. He has since claimed that this was his best, if not his most important, goal for Liverpool to date.Another notable goal, and an example of his drive and inspirational ability, was his contribution during the 2005 Champions' League final against AC Milan in Istanbul. Unmarked by the opposition, he headed a goal that kickstarted Liverpool's comeback from a 3–0 deficit. Minutes later, former teammate, Vladimir Smicer, would score again for the Reds. Gerrard was also crucial in the winning of a penalty when he was fouled by Gennaro Ivan Gattuso in the penalty area. Xabi Alonso scored from a rebound, having his penalty saved initially, to make it 3–3.Liverpool went on to win the match via a penalty shootout, making Gerrard the second youngest captain (after Didier Deschamps) ever to lift the European Cup. After the match he gave a hint of his future when he said to the press: "How can I leave after a night like this?" In July 2005, however, contract negotiations broke down between Gerrard and the club. Reports stated that Gerrard was about to leave Liverpool and Chelsea were again reported to have tabled a British record bid of thirty-two million pounds for the player, which was ultimately rejected. Throughout the episode, Liverpool remained insistent that they wanted Gerrard to stay. However on 5 July Gerrard stated publicly that he wished to leave the Reds.To the delight of Liverpool fans, Gerrard changed his mind the next day and pledged his future to the club. He also apologised to the club's supporters and insisted that there were no get-out clauses in the new contract that he would be signing. He also offered to give up his captaincy, but was told by Rafael Benítez that it was not necessary. On the morning of 8 July, Gerrard signed a new four-year deal with Liverpool alongside teammate, Jamie Carragher. To cap Gerrard's great year in the Champions' League he was named as UEFA's Most Valuable Player for the 2004–05 Champions' League season. He was also in the running for French sport newspaper L'Equipe's prestigious Ballon D'Or award. Rounding out 2005, Gerrard came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year behind Ellen MacArthur (second) and Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (first).At the end of the 2005–06 season Gerrard received his greatest personal accolade to date, when he was voted PFA Player of the Year by his fellow players, becoming the first Liverpool player to win the award since John Barnes in 1988.Real Madrid director Benito Floro was recently quoted as saying: "I've recommended (to club president Fernando Martin) as priority signings a powerful central striker like Adriano, and a top midfielder in case Zinedine Zidane leaves. Gerrard is the football player that I included on the list, a player that the club has already wanted to sign in previous seasons". Gerrard quashed any transfer rumours, publicly stating, "I'm not going to get involved in all that kind of speculation again, I'm settled and happy at Liverpool, and I'm not going to go through another summer like the last two. "I'll be staying here until the day someone tells me they don't want me." Gerrard capped off what he called his most successful season to date by captaining Liverpool to victory in the FA Cup. He scored twice in the Final against West Ham, including a dramatic equaliser in injury time to send the game into extra-time. The 35-yard blast (past Shaka Hislop) has been called one of the greatest goals in FA Cup final history, and was Match of the Day's Goal of the Season for 2005–06. It had been reported that it took just one second for the 35-yard strike to hit the back of the net, which would mean that the ball was travelling at approximately 68 miles per hour (about 109 km/h) when it was struck.Scoring in the 2006 FA Cup Final meant that Gerrard had managed the impressive feat of scoring in all four major cup finals: FA Cup (2006 vs West Ham), League Cup (2003 vs Manchester United), UEFA Cup (2001 vs Alaves), and European Cup (2005 vs AC Milan).Gerrard suffered an injury scare days before the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when it was suggested that he might be ruled out of England's first game of the tournament. He was deemed fit to make his first ever World Cup appearance (having missed the entire 2002 tournament through injury), and started in the side that beat Paraguay 1-0. He then went on to score twice in the group stages of the tournament - first netting England's second goal in a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago with a long-range, curled strike (coincidentally, again past Hislop) in injury time. This victory, in which Gerrard's Liverpool team-mate Peter Crouch also scored, ensured England's progress to the second round of the tournament with a game to spare. Gerrard was then rested for the final group game against Sweden, as a precaution against picking up a second booking that would have ruled him out of the second round match (having already received one against Paraguay). He came off the bench to score a powerfully headed goal in the 85th minute, giving England the lead in a game that finished 2-2. Gerrard was one of three England players to see their penalty saved by Ricardo Pereira in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out which was won by Portugal.In August 2006, the new England national football team manager, Steve McLaren, appointed Gerrard vice-captain of the national side.