KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council (NSC) has given the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) the green light to hire new coaches to oversee its podium and backup athletes.
"We need between seven and 11 new coaches, including a chief coach. We need coaches for various track and field events," said MAF technical director John Ballard after the joint-working committee meeting with NSC today.
"We will advertise the coaching jobs soon. We hope to hire coaches by July or September.
"We need good coaches to improve the standard of athletics ahead of the 2025 Bangkok Sea Games and the 2027 Sea Games in Malaysia," said the Australian coach.
For the record, Malaysia won only five gold medals out of 48 on offer at last year's Phnom Penh Sea Games.
"We are also working with the National Sports Institute (ISN) to hire a world-class strength and conditioning coach for athletics.
Meanwhile, Ballard added that MAF will leave it to the five athletes on whether they should skip the Under-20 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, on Aug 27-31 to focus on the Sarawak Malaysia Games from Aug 17-24.
The five male athletes who have qualified for Peru are Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam (100m and 200m), Hanssen Yap (100m), Sayyid Amin Roslan (200m), Fiross Faizal (110m hurdles) and Ng Tak Sing (triple jump).