National Ranking

It is now January 2009. This is the Game year where the 3rd Asian Indoor Games will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam sometimes in late October or in November. Come June 2009 the Olympic Council of Malaysia will be making an announcement calling MDSB to named the athletes.

We already had the 1st National ranking in Batu Pahat and this is a joint ranking by MDSB and MPDC. To be absolutely forthright about the whole thing , this National ranking was undertaken absolutely by MPDC. MDSB merely lends its name because they are the license holder for IDSF in Malaysia. None of their regular official attended the ranking except George Tan the MPDC President who also happens to be the MDSB Vice President. I was under the impression that with the start kick of the National ranking it would spurr the MDSB enjine to life for them to take a proactive step to get the ball rolling so to speak.

From the look of things I think MPDC or its members will have to undertake and do another National ranking for MDSB again and really it matters not whether they are asleep or awake, the show must go on. MPDC is really at a disadvantage to prepare for the Games. They are a newly set up body, they do not have much funds to prepare the athletes and the economic down turn that affects all of us globally does not help either. All said and done MPDC will have to rise to the occasion and we would like to make an announcement that the 2nd National Ranking will be held on April 24th 2009. We will announce the venue soon. I dread to think about the preperations for such an important Games.

We are not in the blaming business but I want to assure you that MPDC will salvage whatever there is to salvage. It would appear that perhaps if the athletes may have to pay for their fare to the Games. We in MPDC will try to see if we can get fundings from the various sport bodies.

All said just take note that MPDC will be organising the 2nd National ranking on the 24th of April 2009. Those of you who are relaxing, better get into action.

How relevant is Dancesport.

So how relevant is Dancesport? Someone said that in the Laos SEA Games there will be no Dancesport event. I heard that too from OCM, but I was also told by my Thai Counter part that they are prepared to help Laos stage a Dancesport competition for the Laos SEA Games. This is confirmed by ADSF President Keiji Ukai.

Laos does not have a dancesport team , but we shall keep our fingers crossed. Vietnam that will be hosting the Hanoi, 3rd Asian Indoor Games in 2009 tells a different story altogether. They have a team training in Belgium and they are determined in the face of powerful teams from Asia hope to win some medals for Vietnam. It is going to be a good showing and honestly having been to the 2nd Macau, Asian Indoor Games and the Korat SEA Games in Thailand, I am sure the athletes from Team Dancesport Malaysia 2007 will confirm that the Macau Games wins hands down.

From the web pages of the Olympic Council of Asia, I can assure you Dancesport will be relevant till 2014 and perhaps even further. With the introduction of Dancesport in the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, I am quite sure that Dancesport will be a permanent feature in the next Asian Games in Incheon in 2014, Korea.

After Laos SEA Games in 2009, the SEA Games will go to Bandung Indonesia in 2011 and thereafter in 2013 to Singapore. It will eventually land on our doors soon.

After the 23rd and the 25th SEA Games and the Asian Indoor Games, we have seen two distinct features in the competition format at the finals. The final couples in both Latin American and Standard will have to perform two single dance and for Paso Doble' only , the couples are allowed a change of costume to portray the essence of the Bull Fighter dance.

To all Malaysian Grade A Dancesport athletes, the National selection is on for the 2009 Games. Please be rest assured that in the National ranking, your reputation means nothing to the judges. There is no wild card entry to Team Dancesport Malaysia. Everyone who goes on the dance floor have an equal chance to be selected, you do not have to think if you can dance. You most certainly can dance if you are in Grade A.

Do not miss the National ranking, Malaysia is looking for its best athletes to join Team Dancesport Malaysia 2009. The selection is open only to all Malaysian citizen.

I am back

I am back, and most of you may be curious as to why? The short answer is I was invited by the current President of MPDC to take up this post. I must confess that after December 31st 2007 when I resigned as MDSB Sports Director it was over for me.

Further I was encouraged that there are people who are still very enthusiastic in Dancesport, What I feel they lack is guidance and direction and I was asked to share my experience in this new set up.

I have so many things to share with you and I do not know where to start. I suppose I will start with MPDC and talk about their aims and directions.

Malaysian Professional Dancesport Council (MPDC) formation is inevitable. As the name suggest it is a Professional Dancesport body in Malaysia recognised by the International Professional Dancesport Council ( IPDSC). The trend in the world as some of you may be aware of, the International Dancersport Federation (IDSF) has changed their name to World Dancesport Federation (WDF). The reason for the change is many, but the main reason as I see it is dance must encompass other discipline like rock & roll and even wheel chair dancing and many more.

With this dichotomy the trend, is now to leave the training program of professional dance teachers, professional athletes, scrutineering program to the professionals. What then does the amateur do, well they have an important role of regulating the amateur athletes in WDF.

Internationally WDF and IPDSC works very well together, like wise locally MDSB and MPDC are joining hands to start the National ranking. It is most unfortunate that the 2nd KL International Dance Festival has to be postponed, but the show must still go on.

To all of you out there who wants to represent Malaysia for the Olympic Family Games like SEA and Asian Indoor Games. I want you to know that the technical aspect of the Games is govern by IDSF or WDF Rules only. By that I mean you need to be a member of your local professional or amateur body. You must be a current member of MPDC or MDSB. Your achievement or ranking by other dancesport body are not recognised. For the purposes of the National ranking , the aim is to select Malaysian best to represent the country. It matters not whether you are a professional or an amateur. However the distinction of amateur and professional becomes apparent when you join the WDF/IDSF or the IPDSC competition circuit. Each have their own dance circuit.

You will also note that MPDC will be regulating National adjudicators into Category A and Category B adjudicators. The details will be found in their web site. I will touch on other area soon.

The attachment is a picture of the MPDC registration certificate. I choose this picture because this is the start of all things.

If you have anything you wish to highlight to me , you can write to me at johnfam63@yahoo.com