Primary request for facilities, low demand for coaches: Minister

According to the Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation Abdulla Rafiu, the primary request he receives during his multiple visits to local islands is concerned about procuring more sports equipment and facilities while the reception for coaches and referees is low.

He made the remarks during Sunday evening’s “Raajje Miadhu” program on state-run Public Service Media (PSM). During the program, the minister highlighted the importance of coaches and said they are instrumental for the development of sports.

“This is brought up seldom during our trips to the islands. Most of the time, the primary concern is about the lack of facilities and a venue for sports,” the minister commented.

He also highlighted the importance of other sports technical staff besides coaches, who he added, were important for sports and recreation and noted that referees were flown out of Male’ City whenever a tournament was hosted across other atolls.

The minister spoke about the ease of developing well-trained coaches and technical staff within the atolls which reduce the time and effort required in commissioning and flying them in from the capital each time a tournament was held out of Greater Male’ area.

“Sometimes these tournaments have faced delays owing to lack of commissioning referees. The demand for them is significantly high due the high number of competitions,” he added.

The minister spoke of the field’s benefits and advantages, and noted some professionals exclusively working as either referees or coaches. He also announced plans to launch a coaching programme in Addu City to alleviate the lack of trained professionals in the field.

“Once that programme is over, we will conduct a similar training programme somewhere else in the country to train coaches and other technical staff.”

He also touched upon the discussions held with experts from Leeds University towards the development of sports professionals during his trip to the UK. Among the areas discussed included conditioning coaching, sports physiotherapy, sprots nutrition and sports psychology according to the minister.