SERDANG, Dec 6 – The Sports Secretariat of the College Representative Council, Tun Dr. Ismail’s College (KTDI), and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in collaboration with UPM’s Student Affairs Division (BHEP) have organised the first series of “Active with Sifu” (ABS) programme virtually.
The ABS programme was introduced when everyone is living the new normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director of the “Active with Sifu 1.0” programme, Amirul Mirza Fahmi, said the programme aims to introduce popular sports among UPM students to the public virtually.
“This programme was inspired by the regular sports workshops organised physically by UPM Sports Centre before the pandemic hit the world. From the UPM KTDI sports secretariat, we were thinking of other initiatives to run programmes to teach sports techniques and theories online,” he said.
The ABS programme series 1.0 began with the introduction of the sport of volleyball. The teaching staff consists of UPM KTDI students who are also the college and UPM athletes experienced in the sport.
Mohamad Syazwan Saupi, a volleyball athlete who is also a Bachelor of Education (Physical Education) student, said he was proud to be selected as a Sifu and allowed to share his knowledge of volleyball.
"This is my first experience teaching virtual sports. It was an amazing experience and very enjoyable,” he said.
Programme adviser, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yap Wing Fen, said the ABS 1.0 programme had given the public exposure on the theories and basic techniques of volleyball in a more interactive and audience-friendly manner.
“The ABS 1.0 programme is a student initiative to stay active while imparting knowledge to the community. Although the programme was carried out virtually, it managed to hone the students’ soft skills,” he said.
The two-hour programme also featured the national volleyball athlete, Yogeswaran Elangovan, an alumnus of KTDI, UPM. He shared his experience as a national athlete and at the same time as a UPM student.
The program recorded more than 2,500 views on KTDI UPM official Facebook page.
One participant, Muhammad Arifin, said he did not think that such a creative sports programme could be organised in this new normal.
“After I followed the live programme, I was able to understand volleyball, including its techniques and rules. This programme is very interesting and different from other programmes which usually run as seminars," he said. He was excited to try the sport and determined to follow the next series's programme to learn other sports.
The “Active with Sifu” programme 2.0 will talk about netball.- UPM
