KUALA LUMPUR: Newly elected Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) president Nik Razeen Adam Daud will place strong emphasis on education in addition to expanding the sport’s grassroots presence in the country.
Razeen, who previously held the deputy's post, said he was honoured to be given the reins of the well managed association.
He won the post unopposed at SRAM’s annual general meeting (AGM)-cum-elections on Sunday, replacing Huang Ying How who chose not to defend.
"Of course, I consider this a huge responsibility. I have been given a house which is in good order. I will look to not only maintain the order but also improve," said Razeen.
"The emphasis is very much on supporting states to continue with their development programmes. We will look to expand on this as far as we can because that is where we find our fresh talent.
"I am also very keen on looking at tertiary education for our players. In modern sports, every player should have the opportunity to do a degree of some kind, it does not matter what.
"We have a number of preliminary programmes with Universiti Malaya (UM) and we will look to expand on that. That said, we will also look to assist players from states get into universities wherever they are.
"You (players) can play squash but you should not forget about education, one day you will have to stop playing and that degree will come in handy."
UM was made the centre of excellence for squash last year as part of a development initiative under the Higher Education Ministry and SRAM.
Razeen added that coaches and referee education will also be improved on.
It was a tame affair at Sunday’s AGM will all positions won unopposed.
Former vice-president Gerard Monteiro moved up to deputy, filling in the void left by Razeen.
Former treasurer Gabriel Teo Chun and K. Subramaniam were elected as vice-presidents.
Negri Sembilan's Alvin Chen is the only newcomer to the fold, slotting in as treasurer.
Former honorary secretary Christopher Brodie has stepped down with a replacement expected to be named by Razeen in the near future.