AMMS Overemphasizes On Coaching, Drives Away Spotlight On Crucial Areas

Committee Session 2 has commenced, yet AMMS still finds itself plagued with circular debate, overlooking issues of inclusivity and marginalised communities within sports communities.

With the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Sports (AMMS) recently holding committee sessions to address the problem of accessibility of sports in ASEAN, discussions have been stirring on the topic of coaching development. 

Several solutions have been proposed by the council, such as Timor Leste’s regional coaching program, aided by Malaysia, which aims to improve the quality of coaching in developing countries. 

This program involves professional, high-level coaches sharing their expertise with lower-level coaches worldwide. Firstly, coaches from different ASEAN countries are invited to converge at the Gulf Cooperation Council, where they will be trained by professionals and equipped with sporting skills and knowledge. 

Afterwards, these coaches will be decentralized and sent back to their home countries, where they will pass this knowledge down to the local coaches at their respective training centres. The program encompasses a multi-tiered coaching course, with its three tiers sorted in increasing proficiency. 

Tier one involves novice coaching, in which coaches are taught how to identify talents on community level and facilitate the talents’ initial exposure to sports. Tier two involves intermediate coaching and developing these newly-formed athletes as they enter the sporting scene. Tier three focuses on the advanced sporting world, and cultivating proficient, professional athletes. 

This solution also includes a sports exchange program, in which coaches and athletes can go to other countries to gain expertise. This then results in both parties mutually benefiting, since less developed countries can provide their pool of athletes and the more developed countries can then contribute funding and training opportunities. 

Theoretically, Timor Leste’s regional coaching program sounds like an ideal solution for these grassroots athletes, but committee debate has overlooked the feasibility of funding for athletes of lower socioeconomic status. Additionally, they have not touched on the topic of other grassroots communities, which includes the disabled and women in sports.

For instance, existing grassroots sports programmes often rely heavily on government funding. This is a problem as funding is lacking in several member countries, such as Myanmar, which has multiple Olympic Committee sports federations failing to receive sponsorship from the state. Furthermore, this can prove unfavourable in the long run given that the reshuffling of the governments could lead to reduced sports funding outlined in national budgets. 

In addition, marginalized communities remain a significant issue. Those of lower socio-economic standing have limited access to sports facilities, due to them often living in less urbanized areas. The problem is exacerbated when considering there is an existing lack of infrastructure. Moreover, these communities likely cannot afford the high-level coaching that Timor Leste promises, because the coaches need to earn income too. Very little has been stated on how exactly funding will be split, since it is inevitable that it will run out. 

Much is left unmentioned in speeches during committee sessions. For example, the fact that several regions of ASEAN currently face socio-political struggles. In Myanmar, there is not only a considerable amount of conflict between the various ethnic groups in the country, but also the coup that occurred in 2021. This makes leaving the country (which is essential for the coach training programs in the Gulf Cooperation Council) still dangerous. 

Another example is the ongoing Thailand-Cambodia border dispute. A lot more political issues occur in this tumultuous area and thus it is an extremely crucial point that has not been covered much in council debates. 

The Thai Minister has notably remained silent throughout the committee debate, contributing relatively little to solutions. Despite having previously expressed the desire to discuss more on aiding grassroots sports initiatives, the initiative to bring this up to fellow ministers remains unseen. 

All this work on improving athletes and coaching simply falls short of another crucial problem at hand here. As political turmoil is increasingly prevalent in the region, action must not only be taken to uphold the development of sports, but also sporting integrity as a whole. 

Who will take charge of the officials? Who is going to enforce regulations against sports-enhancing drugs and doping in regional competitions and training programs? If regulations cannot be strictly enforced, who is to say that one country won’t use its financial means to ascend to the top of the regional sporting ladder? All of these questions remain unanswered by the committee, which has a tunnel vision focused solely on how to improve their coaches and athletes. 

Crucially, countries need to get back on track — instead of endlessly reiterating their countless solutions for improving the quality of coaches and athletes. Action must be taken immediately, and hopefully the committee will address this in the next few days. 

Bibliography 

Maizland, Lindsay. “Myanmar’s Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic Conflict.” Council on Foreign Relations, January 31, 2022. 

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/myanmar-history-coup-military-rule-ethnic-conflict-ro hingya. 

Pemberton, Eleanor. “Sports Development in Southeast Asia: Opportunities and Challenges - Beltway Grid - Policy Center.” Beltway Grid - Policy Center, October 7, 2024. https://beltwaygrid.org/sports-development-in-southeast-asia-opportunities-and-challenge s/. 

Strangio, Sebastian. 2025. “Cambodia Officially Requests ICJ Intervention in Thai Border Dispute.” Thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. June 16, 2025. 

https://thediplomat.com/2025/06/cambodia-officially-requests-icj-intervention-in-thai-bor der-dispute/. 

Wong, Natalie. “Seeking Success in Sport.” Frontier Myanmar, July 3, 2020. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/seeking-success-in-sport/.

Written by: Genevieve Wee Shi Yun, Canada Alexa Joeve Devela, Alexa Ng