The Acting Director of the Department of Youth and Sports, Hj Abdul Malik Hj Mohammad (L), presenting a certificate to one of the partipants who completed a cue sports clinic yesterday. BT/Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh.
Thirty-five teachers from all four districts were awarded certificates yesterday following the successful conclusion of a cue sports clinic.
The first of its kind, the clinic - which was held over the space of two months - was jointly-organised by the Department of Youth and Sports under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS), the Department of Co-curricular Education under the Ministry of Education, (MOE) and the Brunei Darussalam Cue Sports Association (BCSA).
The clinic took place every Saturday since September 7 at the Billiards and Snooker Hall of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.
Facilitated by national cue sports coach Lim Tat Hwe and national team cueists, the clinic was aimed at providing participants with knowledge and skills that will enable them to teach the basics of cue sports to students in the country according to the latest international rules and regulations.
"We are happy to be able to help contribute in the development of athletes, especially in cue sports," said the nation's top cueist Ahmad Taufiq Murni in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"It is very hard to find talent in the sport as we do not always see young kids and students at pool and billiards centres, so what we need to do is to reach out to them - and in this case by helping the teachers to teach them and hopefully discover new talent.
"This is the first time we (BCSA) have been involved in this kind of event and we are willing to do it again in the future," added Taufiq.
Besides the practical training, participants were also given the opportunity to listen to lectures conducted by sport psychologist at the Sports Medical and Research Centre of the Department of Youth and Sports, Zulkiflee Abdul Hamid.
"I hope that with the experience that I have obtained from this clinic, I will be able to teach and train the students the basics of the sport," said Abdul Qawiy Hj Abdul Khani, a teacher from Sayyidina Othman Secondary School.
"We were taught both theory and practical, but most of the time was spent on the practical side of the sport such as how to stand, make a shot, potting and other things," he continued.
"What makes it special is that we are learning this directly from the national coach and players, and it is great honour for us to be training with them," he added.
"They all showed a lot of interest and now I hope they will introduce what they have learnt to their schools," Lim told The Brunei Times in a previous interview.
"Some have shown that they have played before but they need to learn more about the basics," he added.
The Acting Director of the Department Youth of and Sports, Hj Abdul Malik Hj Mohammad, presented the certificates to the participants.
