MALAYSIAN coaches just need a little more recognition and appreciation.
This is the view of a former international, who believes more will eventually accept job offers from other countries.
Speaking on the basis of anonymity, the former Olympian, who once coached the national badminton team, said: “We have the quality, and we have the expertise but are we getting the recognition we deserve?
“I do not want to mention names but look at how foreign coaches are treated here (Malaysia) and then compare that with the local coaches.
“It’s so hard for a local coach to even earn RM20,000 a month but a foreign coach gets almost double.
“How does one justify this? I don’t see any significant results coming from these foreign coaches.
“It is because of this that many local coaches are accepting offers abroad.”
Japan, who have cemented their status as one of badminton’s powerhouses, have been benefiting from the expertise of Malaysian coaches.
When the Land of the Rising Sun clinched their maiden Thomas Cup title in New Delhi in 2014, an unknown Mohamad Izuan Ibrahim made headlines for being the man behind the rise of current World No 1 Kento Momota.
Three years later, former BAM mixed doubles chief coach Jeremy Gan joined the Japan BA.
He guided World No 3 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino to last year’s All England crown.
Under the guidance of chief coach Park Joo Bong, Japan have continued to show dominance.
Last year, they reached the finals of the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in Bangkok.
The women’s team defeated Thailand 3-0 in the Uber Cup final while the men lost 3-1 to China in the Thomas Cup.
Another former international Lee Wan Wah has accepted a coaching offer from Japan and will be joining them as their junior trainer next month.
It doesn’t stop there as the grapevine has it that former national doubles coach Tan Kim Her is also set to join the Japanese national team.
“These names are just a handful of high performing coaches who have accepted jobs abroad but in reality, there are many more Malaysian coaches outside the country.
“The biggest pull is definitely the salary package, but there are other perks that come with the job. The coaches are well taken care of, they’ve got good allowances and they are appreciated.
“Many other local coaches have received offers to coach abroad, but some are more comfortable here.
“I wonder if the national body sees this? The state of Malaysian badminton is in limbo, yet stronger nations are scouting our coaches.
“Something must be done, I don’t know who calls the shots but things must improve around here. Talks about creating a better ecosystem will remain a dream,” added the source.
Apart from Jeremy, Wan Wah and Kim Her who have left the country for greener pastures, another notable name is former women’s singles coach Wong Tat Meng.
Tat Meng, who had previous stints with the Indonesian BA in 2011 and the Scotland national team in 2016, recently joined the South Korea BA as their singles coach.
“There must be better guidelines, that’s what I feel and coaching jobs must be offered based on merit.
“I think the quality of the coaching staff at the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) is questionable. Are these coaches qualified? I believe there are many more deserving coaches out there.
“As I mentioned earlier, Malaysian coaches just need a little more recognition and appreciation.
“It would be sad to see Japan dominate the Olympics next year with our coaches,” he added.