GSP Malaysia taught the sport of ultimate frisbee to teachers and Ministry of Education officers recently as part of an effort to strengthen the partnership between the two groups. In addition, they aided in the creation of a Training for Trainers module for all secondary schools in Malaysia.
Some program highlights include the translation of rules and ultimate guidelines into the local language, Bahasa Malaysia; and the plan for State education departments to host clinics that increase participation among school students throughout Malaysia.
A success story is highlighted by the experience of participating officers from the ministry. The ministry team was enthusiastic and loved the sport, but they had never competed in a real game. They decided to join a tournament, losing the first game … and by a wide margin, too. Even though the loss could have been devastating to some, the opponent exemplified the Spirit of the Game, which is a defining characteristic of Ultimate. They offered advice to the ministry team to understand how to improve, promoting sportsmanship and collaboration. In response to this impacting example, the officers’ team finished third place at the tournament.
GSP Malaysia Regional Catalyst, Derrick Wilkerson, was excited to see how this impact was immediately made, “It is great to see how the Spirit of the Game sets ultimate apart from other sports. We all learned from the training, but it is our team at GSP that will take much more back with us by watching the participants engage with the game of Ultimate and embrace the overwhelming benefits.”
This is a continuation of ongoing training with all 16 states and territories of Malaysia represented at the workshop, over 40 total participants, while ten of those were previously trained by the GSP team. This continuation will go a long way to establish lasting roots of ultimate in Malaysia.
Wilkerson said, “We are very excited about what the future holds, and the partnership is strong with the Ministry. It is important for us to continue moving forward and get more opportunities out there for students around the country.”
Upcoming work could possibly include more collaboration as The Ministry of Education desires to host a similar workshop in 2023 to assess the development of the sport in secondary schools around the country.
