In a Limbo

We have been reflecting upon an earlier change of events that had profound impact on all 13 Putrajaya players who could not obtain their ID from BAM including Ryan and Aaron. Despite all efforts from the state secretariat to appeal and seek fellow members from KLBA & SBA to support us, BAM was steadfast with this simple rule – unless the players are schooling in Putrajaya, they cannot represent Putrajaya state which was enforced strictly beginning of this year. Both Ryan & Aaron are now schooling in Puchong under the state of Selangor which is in conflict with this new ruling. My wife even contacted her former NS coach and the current BAM Honorary Secretary, Mr Ng Chin Chai but there is nothing he can do to bend this rule.

With this decision, many players suddenly found themselves in a limbo as all hopes to play in the BAM sanctioned tournaments like the national junior circuit were torn to shreds. The coaches and parents were counting for any last lingering hope from BAM to make some exceptions in the name of developing grass root talents in search for another Lee Chong Wei - or so we thought, as these were merely rhetorics.

So what does this mean to the players whom had trained so purposefully all year with the single aim to become a state player, only to be denied this opportunity at the eleventh hour? Some were devastated. Many despaired and looked lost. Some withdrew from the Persatuan to seek new paths elsewhere. Only one shifted school to Putrajaya and eventually got his ID from BAM. The rest just reverted back to studies and resort to play in private tournaments.

Persatuan Badminton Putrajaya was very sympathetic and still supported the players who do not have ID like their own state player while their parents sort out the player’s schooling dilemma. The problem is many of the player’s education were already entrenched in the vernacular syllabus and moving to a non-vernacular school in Putrajaya is unthinkable. Therefore, in time to come, we have to ask the hard questions. Should we continue to train in Putrajaya? For how long? Now that the 1^st leg of the National Junior Circuit 2014 has completed and reality has already sunk in, our boys will definitely miss the boat this year. Beyond this point, I don’t know if the boys will ever get an ID.

So where does that lead the boys from here? The path looks bleak. The only flicker of light at the end of the tunnel will be the school organized MSSD tournaments. It may well provide us with some answers although it is a long shot to get into Selangor BA. We will just have to see through the MSSD next week and hope for the best!