SPORTS medicine in the country is set to get a shot in the arm with the 2nd International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Medicine Course.

The four-day event at a hotel in the capital kicked off yesterday with the aim of providing participants the opportunity to better understand the basic principles and concepts underlying sports medicine and sports science.

Organised by the Department of Youth and Sports and the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC), the course’s objectives are to raise the awareness of local sports personnel and athletes in the fields of athletic training, doping control, exercise, physical therapy and sports trauma.

The President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC) His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah officially declared the course open.

Twenty papers will be delivered by seven authorities from Asia over the duration of the course, with a workshop on first aid and resuscitation on Thursday afternoon marking the event’s climax.

This year marks the second time that Brunei has been given the privilege to host the event, the first being in 1998.

Conducted under the auspices of the IOC Medical Commission and funded by the Olympic Solidarity, 300 participants comprising members of the local and foreign medical profession and sporting fraternity are attending the course.

In his speech, the Chairman of the Medical Commission of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said that the response for the course was better than expected.

“I am thoroughly impressed with the turnout,” said Datuk Dr M Jegathesan, who is on the panel of speakers.

“One of the key elements in deciding which country should host the course was a previous track record, and we were happy with Brunei’s efforts during the first course.

“The purpose of this course is to impart knowledge in sports science to all here, and we hope to extend its critical mass (of knowledge),” added the Deputy President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).

Other speakers include Maj Gen Dr C Thurairaja, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abd Aziz, Professor Sukadiyanto and Dr Nazar Luqman Bilgrami.

Dr Hj Danish Zaheer, Head of Sports Medicine and Research Centre under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports will be delivering three papers and Brunei’s Ilham Hj Mohd Ali will deliver a paper on “Nutrition for Elite Athletes” tomorrow.

Adviser to the Medical Committee of the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) and Honorary Medical Adviser of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Datuk Dr M Jegathesan presented papers on the Olympic Movement Medical Code, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) Standards and WADA Anti-Doping Code 2009 yesterday.

Maj Gen Dr C Thurairaja talked about “Pre-Sports Participation Examination” while Professor Sukadiyanto gave an overview of Sports Psychology.

It will be a busy day for participants today with seven papers set to be delivered; “Adolescent and Children in Sports”, “Elite Athlete Training Principles”, “Pre-Competition Routines in Sports”, “Principles of Sports Injury Rehabilitation”, “Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sports”, “Sports Biomechanics and Performance”, and lastly, “Sudden Cardiovascular Death in Sports”.

Tomorrow’s focus will be on “Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Knee Deficit in Women”, “Goal-Setting Techniques in Sports”, “Health Consequence of Doping and Nutrition for Elite Athletes”.

A workshop on taping is also in the programme.

Talks on “Fieldside Assessment of Injuries”, “International Development in Sports Science and Physical Education”, “Stress Management in Sports and Women in Sports” will be delivered on Thursday. Courtesy of BruneiTimes

Whilst more people pays attention to the 25th SEA Games in Laos, Seri Kenangan beach in Tutong remain one of the most popular weekend getaway destinations, when Tutong Beach Sports Carnival 2009 was held yesterday. The events was organised by the Tutong District Youth & Sports Department.

The “fun day” participated by four “mukims” from Tutong district, Mukim Keriam, Mukim Kiudang, Mukim Ukong and Mukim Telisai. A fully stretched day events provides fun competitive individual and group games such as tug-of-war, strongest men, bottle fishing, beach soccer match, beach sepak takraw and many more.

Strengthening the relationships amongst the Tutong populations was the major aims for this sports event. The final event from yesterday fun day was the prize presentations to the winners for each individual and group participation. Mukim Kiudang teams bring home the title with 115 points. Meanwhile Mukim Keriam and Mukim Ukong finished second and third respectively with 104 points and 94 points.

Present as the guest of honour was acting Tutong district officer, Awang Haji Muhammad Suffian bin Haji Bungsu.

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, The President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC), held a meeting last saturday, 7 Feb 2009 with regards to the progress of the Sultanate's athletes for the 2009 Laos Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The 25th SEA Games will be held in Vientiane, Laos from Dec 12-21 this year. From the meeting last november, the host nation council stated that, 25 sports would be contested in the tournament.

The main aim of the meeting which was held at the Meeting Room of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium discussed on the athletes performances and their selection process. No athlestes has been confirmed for the Laos Games yet, but it is stated that no representative from table tennis and weight-lifting will be going for the tournament, due to their games standard.

The meeting were also attended by Pehin Orang Kaya Setia Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Ahmad Hj Jumat, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, officials from the ministry as well as representatives of 17 local sports associations. As for the record from the last tournament in Korat, Thailand, from 57 athletes competing in 12 sports, our contingents bagged one gold, one silver and four bronze medals.

Before the year 2008 ended few months back, few weeks after the born of sportsbrunei, we did come up with this idea on thinking what will be the most popular sports in Brunei Darussalam. So sitting, thinking of what to write on this blog should be related to what most people like to know on the sporting events in Brunei and regionally...

One evening, while learning on how to actually do blogging, I've seen the word poll on the widget (seen this few times, but overlook if this actually helps), so we decided to take this opportunity to have this on sportsbrunei. But, I only manage to think of 8 sports on the lists (badminton, basketball, futsal, netball, soccer, softball/baseball, swimming & tennis).

As the poll runs, soccer remains as the most popular choices amongst our readers here with 50% of the votes, followed by futsal and badminton/swimming with 37% & 19% respectively. Basketball, netball & tennis finish up with 7% while 1% goes to softball/baseball. From these poll results, most of the time, sportsbrunei will be covering soccer games, but from time to time, other sports will be as much as possible not to be left behind.

Also, we would like to thank for all the readers as well as the chatters who left some comments on our shoutbox. As question by the red, he liked to see coverage on track & field events...and hopefully, that will be done accordingly. Again thanks for all the supports, hope to see great sporting events coverage oppurtunity this year all.

It has been a week that I couldn't update the sport news. Something has come up last week. Now here is the medadl tally for the 6th BIMP-EAGA which come to an end last sunday, 30th November 2008. Hosting the 6th game for the first time, Brunei Darussalam 'A' only managed to bag 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze. While Brunei Darussalam 'B' finished with 6 silver and 2 bronze medals. Keep up the sports spirits.

Today 30th December will remarks the final day for the 6th BIMP-EAGA Firendship Games in Brunei Darussalam. All the 7 competitives event will resume where most of the games will enter its final rounds. Listed below would be the schedule games for today:-

As for the closing ceremony would be held at the Indoor Stadium by 4pm. The stadium is open to public to give the morale supports. The Honourable Pehin Orang Kaya Setia Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Ahmad bin Haji Jumat, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Brunei Darussalam will be the guest of Honour to officially ended the game before handed game flag to the next game host nation.

Less than 24 hours before the games started, I was physically inside the house again to accompany friend and finalize some unfinished duty with regards to the game preparations. Got some chances to snap some shots and might be worth sharing here..'sorry for the pic's quality, im only armed with HTC Diamond'. Here we go....