It was the best of the times and it was the worst of times. That somehow sums up what 2009 was for the Kabaddi Association of Kuala Lumpur (KAKL).
It was indeed an eventful year with the KAKL going full steam in developing the sport in the city. Many landmarks were set over the last 12 months. The recognition of the second place in the Best Sports Association category for the KAKL by the Federal Territory Sports Department at the Mass Sports Sports Award was the highlight of the associations endeavour.
The initiation of the Premier League Kabaddi was a gamble that KAKL took and it has paid its dividends in unearthing many young players. The PLK also had its fair share of disappointment with some teams dropping out even before the season was over.
This was only an indication that the sport is still at its infancy and the march towards a more professional set-up is strewn with many hurdles and obstacles.
KAKL also organised a number other tournaments with the assistance of the Rakan Muda and City Hall. The Arasai-Kings of Kabaddi was another milestone, although, it too bared the ugly truth that we need to put discipline at the top of any programme.
KAKL also assisted various other groups including the Selangor Tamil Bell Youth CLub and the Malacca Multimedia University with their tournaments.
All of these competitions would have been even more exciting had we had better cooperation from the Kabaddi Association of Malaysia (KAM).
The KAKL was also at the forefont in initiating the inclusion of kabaddi in the Traditional Sports Carnival. KAKL officials not only fought for the inclusion but also travelled the country to conduct kabaddi introductory course for the Ministry of Sports Malaysia.
Unfortunately, KL were denied the right to play at the finals of the carnival by some unscrupulous manipulation by some officials.
With the KAKL being denied their rights of membership by the KAM, the KAKL lodged complaints with both the Olympic Council of Malaysia and the Sports Commissioners office. Both complaints are still pending but KAKL were also denied the chance to send a team to the national juniors championships in Johor Bahru.
Despite the issues with the national body, KAKL can take pride that it is still the best team in the country. And KAKL are prepared to take up the challenge with any team in the country to prove our worth.
KAKL also decided to create a state level Technical Officials course and the first course conducted this year yielded six new officials.
KAKL is looking to expand the course in 2010 and also start the KAKL Level One Coaching Certification.
The association also decided to honour the best players and officials with awards at a year ending annual dinner.
Despite the improvements, there are still many aspects that the KAKL needs to look into as the new year comes. We still have some outstanding financial issues that need to be settled as soon as possible.
We still need to ensure the standards set in 2009 is improved upon.
The KAKL would be organising the Second International Inter City Kabaddi Championships in March. We already have confirmation from teams from India, Nepal, US and are expecting teams from other countries to confirm their participation soon.
We are also in the midst of preparing our team for the Faridabad Gold Cup tournament in India as well as the Sukma in Malacca. We are the defending Sukma champions and are pretty confident of retaining the crown in June.
Our website has also shown steady increase in readership and we are proud that we have surpassed the 10,000 mark earlier this month.
We are planning a number of new things for the new year and would announce them soon.
As the year ends, we would like to thank all the KAKL members, players, officials, teams, clubs, the FT Sports Department, the Ministry of Sports, the FT Sports Council, KL City Hall and all the various individuals that made 2009 a year to remember.
Happy New Year from the president and council of the Kuala Lumpur Kabaddi Association.
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