Step Backward to Jump Forward

A famous french saying, ‘Reculer pour mieux sauter’.

Happy 2024! A month has passed but some of us are still figuring out the year, some of us have figured it out and know exactly which way we are going. Nevertheless, let's celebrate 2024 as a year of stepping backward to jump forward.

After an eventful AFC Asian Cup, football is still the IT sport. Regardless of age or gender everyone speaks about it. Women's football too had a fair share of limelight as well with the league in north and other than the most spoken about league organised by FA Selangor. This year is a year of progress, a year for all the good things to happen and be discussed.

Late last year, I now realise I had too much on my plate but all played equally important roles in my progress. Perhaps I was too focused on getting the best out of myself that I had forgotten to enjoy the little things. My dreams are sometimes unrealistic and I am even afraid of myself. The only reasonable way to not end up becoming the detested monster of 'i know everything' just because, i decided to take a step back and refresh.

I started the new year 2024 by joining the Football Management and Finance course (a course in partnership between Football Benchmark and University of London). Grabbing the opportunity while being on this side of the world, I also signed up for Sports Law, Sports Governance short courses. Let's be real, we are all lacking in exploring the best possible way to help our nation. I have always championed developing our Malaysians to better heights in order to be able to contribute better to the next generation. Going back to the basics, to build the foundation is essential for a longer-term strategy. Getting the chance to be with PSV Coaching Academy and Tottenham Hot Spurs facilities division during this break are both dreams come true. It is important to gain knowledge in all the different areas, to be able to understand all different aspects in our industry so we know exactly what we are doing and where we are going.

I champion women in football, and yet it is important to remain in the male dominated industry for by doing so our ability to compete can be clearly seen. We need to work on creating room and opportunity for other women. We can't just stop at fighting for better quality women players when we never made an attempt at fighting for better quality women coaches, referees, team officials etc as they impact one another. We should not allow any woman in the industry to fight her battle alone. We need to train and develop locals to become the best version of ourselves to ensure quality and continuity. Regardless male or female we all deserve the opportunity to bring out and discover our best in the industry.

2024, will certainly have its own drama because what is football/futsal without it? Each individual will have his/her own goals. At times the goal of the individual comes in the way of the goal of the team. In such an incident, the team may be deprived of a goal as the individual lacks teamwork. It is not too late to understand that team success demands sacrifice from everyone in the team. In order to progress we may need to take a step backward, reflect and think before leaping forward. May this year bring all of us Malaysian football/futsal fans, administrators, players, officials and everyone involved a good opportunity to progress.

This article was written by Mutiara Bahir.

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