Keeping the Running Spirit of Young Athletes

Name: Keeping the Running Spirit of Young Athletes
Uploaded: 2021-01-08T06:03:28Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: "It is better to light a candle than to curse or lament the darkness." This aptly illustrates the efforts of Hamdan Syafril Sayuti

"It is better to light a candle than to curse or lament the darkness." This aptly illustrates the efforts of Hamdan Syafril Sayuti

Adrian Fajriansyah

· 6 minutes read

A proverb says, "It is better to light a candle than to curse or lament the darkness." This aptly illustrates the efforts of Hamdan Syafril Sayuti (33), a professional runner who revived racing events for young runners in his hometown of Sijunjung regency, West Sumatra, amid the Covid-19 crisis.

"Many young athletes who are still training hard ask me, ‘Bang [big brother], when will we compete in a race?’ They grew bored when they realized that there aren’t any competitions during the pandemic. It has dampened their spirit. Finally, I talked to my family and peers to hold a championship. I hope they will not stop training, because they still have a long future ahead,” Hamdan said on Tuesday (5/1/2021) when contacted from Jakarta.

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Hamdan is a runner, but he is not a member of the regional training camp (Pelatda) or the national training center (Pelatnas). The athlete, who was born in Jambi on 28 April 1987, is also neither a government employee nor a private employee. He relies on the income he earns from competition prize money and the several shops he owns for his daily needs.

Since Covid-19 broke out, however, the majority of running competitions have been postponed or canceled. Inevitably, he has lost more than half of his income. In addition, the sales turnovers at his grocery store, building material shop and wedding decoration service have dropped dramatically due to the economic fallout from the health emergency.

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In normal times, Hamdan usually participates in two or three races per month for a combined prize pool of Rp 30 million to Rp 50 million. The biggest prize he has ever won is Rp 185 million from the Lombok Marathon 2019.

Meanwhile, the income he made from his businesses was less than half the prize money he usually earned in a month. "Now, even though the income from my stores is not that much, at least it still helps make ends meet," said Hamdan, who is the second child of parents M. Syaban and Yusnani.

Keep on giving

Despite the difficult situation, Hamdan did not close his eyes or heart to others’ hardships. The national athlete who competed in the SEA Games 2015 in Singapore still wants to give. He set aside Rp 10 million of his own money to hold a championship on 9-10 Nov. 2020 for young runners from Sijunjung and nearby areas.

The money was used to provide room and board for athletes from outside Sijunjung, procure equipment and offer prizes. Young athletes welcomed the event with great enthusiasm. The event involved around 250 runners below 17 years who competed in seven categories.

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In fact, the prize pool was not big: the prize for first place was Rp 300,000, the second-place prize was Rp 200,000 and the third-place prize was Rp 100,000 for each category.

"However, for the young athletes, this boosted their spirit because it served as a [platform] to evaluate the results of their training and it restored their drive to compete after almost a year of not having a championship due to the pandemic," said Hamdan.

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His efforts did not stop there. On 7 to 28 Dec., he again took action to organize activities for the local youth. With Rp 7 million from his own pockets, he held a mini soccer championship.

"This event was not for mentoring, but to provide a positive activity for the village youth," he said.

Service spirit

Hamdan has long maintained his desire to give back to society. Starting around 2018, he has provided free training for children interested in athletics. Aside from training, he also provided them with underwear, training gear and shoes.

"The majority of the children I train are from underprivileged families. Not a few arrived at the [first] training with bare feet or in a formal shirt because they had no T-shirts,” he said.

The majority of the children I train are from underprivileged families.

At least 30 young athletes to date have taken part in Hamdan’s daily training, held from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in central Sijunjung. The results were encouraging. Four trainees were accepted to the West Sumatra provincial Student Development and Training Center (PPLP).

"I can live a better life thanks to athletics. Therefore, I want to help younger athletes change their lives for the better through athletics,” said Hamdan, who was a beverage vendor before he became an athlete.

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Helping ‘pesantren’

In mid-2019, Hamdan ran 75 kilometers from the Agam regent\'s office to Bukittinggi as a charity fundraiser. The goal of the athlete, who earned a master of sports education from the Sports Science School at the State University of Padang, was to raise funds to help restore Pondok Pesantre Tamboa Madani, an Islamic boarding school in Tanjuang Bonai Aur, Sumpur Kudus district, Sijunjung.

Hamdan was saddened to see the condition of the pesantren, which had been neglected for about four years. The school’s woven bamboo walls were disheveled. In fact, the pesantren that was established in 2013 had produced many hafiz (people who have memorized the complete text of the Quran) who had made many achievements from the regency to the national level.