Coaching youngsters is no easy task, especially if they’re still in school. While these young athletes can be professional during practice and tournaments, they’re still kids who just want to have fun. A coach’s job is to educate, guide, and lead them to become better athletes and possibly even be the next big rising star in the world of sports.
While a coach must be firm and strict with their coachees, it does not necessarily grant them the authority to physically or verbally abuse the athletes. Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh and rapper Caprice have a few words to say about a recent viral video of a coach abusing his authority.
Persatuan Bola Tampar Malaysia (MAVA) telah menggantung jurulatih Melaka daripada sebarang penglibatan kejohanan kebangsaan sepanjang siasatan dijalankan atas insiden menampar 2 pemain wanita pic.twitter.com/RTx0GA3goQ
— ASTRO ARENA (@ASTROARENA) January 2, 2023
For context, a video recently went viral showing an incident that happened during the 2022 Malaysia Youth Under 14 Volleyball Championship. In the video, a coach from the Melaka team can be seen slapping two 14-year-old players who apparently cost the team to lose a point during the match. Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh became aware of the incident and even voiced her thoughts regarding the coach’s physical assault on the girls.
“Malaysians must stop normalising physical abuse as a means for behavioural compliance – wrong on kids, athletes, spouse or maid!” she tweeted. The politician released a statement that the Ministry of Sports will launch an investigation to identify whether the aggressive training approach has been practiced in the victims’ volleyball team all this time. “We must learn from this, improve and ensure that this will not be repeated,” said the Youth and Sports minister.
Hannah Yeoh wasn’t the only famous person to speak out about the coach’s violent act. Rapper and entrepreneur Caprice also shared his thoughts on the incident. “I don’t care who you are to these kids, if you are not the parents, you have no right to slap these kids. This is clearly assaulting kids,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. The father-of-one also calls for better laws to protect the children of Malaysia as there have been multiple abuse cases last year involving children.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm3z1SbtIc0/
Other celebs including comedian Harith Iskander and TV personality Diva AA also gave their take on the coach’s abusive behaviour. “If my daughter’s “coach” laid a hand on my child he would soon learn what ‘tampar’ really means,” tweeted the comedian. Not holding anything back, Diva posted an angry tweet saying, “That coach is an asshole! How about you go slap your good-for-nothing parents first idiot!”
At the time of writing, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has yet to give an update on their investigation. However, it’s been reported that the volleyball coach has been suspended by the Malaysian Volleyball Association. The coach apparently has also personally apologised to the players and their parents. It is said that the fate of his career will be determined tomorrow (Wednesday, 4th January).
UPDATE (Tuesday, 3rd January)
After the video went viral, the players of the volleyball team themselves came forward with their statement. The team defended their coach by tweeting, “He’s not someone who you can just throw your insults. He’s our coach who has trained us from the heart until the day we make history for the state of Melaka”.
Kami sebagai pemain-pemain yang dilatih dan juga bermain untuk pasukan bawah 14 dan 16 tahun Melaka.
Beliau bukan gemuk dan botak yg korang boleh hina . Beliau coach kami yg mlatih kami drpd hatinya yg ikhlas Sehingga kami berjaya mencipta satu sejarah baru untuk negeri MELAKA. pic.twitter.com/731ZmMLHq8
— malacca volleyball club (@mastanahvc) January 2, 2023
