KENINGAU: Kaki Bangku Soccer Clinic (KBSC), a football training programme initiated by a group of Sabah-based coaches with the support of US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, was held on April 8 this year involving 35 male and female special needs learners of Keningau Vocational College (KVC) at the school’s field.
There were four coaches from the programme who trained these gifted students and these coaches are alumni of Sports Visitor Programme who went to the USA in 2023 on a trip that was fully-funded by the US Department of State to learn more about football training and coaching. Upon returning to Malaysia, they founded KBSC.
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The coaches are Farish Aziz Sulaiman, Addnan Sarippuddin, Rizal Abd Hamid, Abdul Rahim Abu and Ashraffie Jusnaidi.
Farish Aziz, the founder of KBSC, is an actor and an Astro Arena host while Addnan Sarippuddin is a former Radio Era presenter.
The participants comprised hearing-impaired learners and learners with learning disorders of both males and females aged 16 and 17 under the Special Education Integration Programme of the college.
Teachers specialised in special educational needs were also present to assist with the activities particularly as sign language translators. The training which took place roughly in two hours was split into several activities that introduced the students to the basics of football with the main concept of engaging in healthy, challenging yet fun outdoor activities.
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The goals were to cultivate interest in playing football, fostering social skills and instilling discipline among the participants. The session ended with excitement as the students were eager to demonstrate their football skills and the coaches were happy with their commitment.
Each participating student received a t-shirt and a certificate and 16 soccer balls were donated by KBSC to the college.
The college director, Lumang anak Lang, was happy with the programme as he firmly advocates inclusion and equality in delivering quality education.
He added that this programme was aligned with the vision of KVC which aims to become an inclusive institution that caters to special needs learners by enabling them to equally take part in any activities and events while receiving the necessary support in doing so.
