Two months from now, the synergy created by a very eclectic group will pull off something quite spectacular – the 1st Asian Beach Games, to be held in Bali in October.
A Middle Eastern Muslim Sheik, a handful of Filipino and Singaporean execs, and more than a thousand young, enthusiastic Balinese Hindus are putting it together, and over 2000 Asian athletes will perform in 19 different water and beach related sports.
This Games’ team is working miracles under the guidance of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KONI), with extremely challenging deadlines, not a lot of local government support and an unhappily small budget. But it’s very clear that they believe they will make it happen.
The 1st Asian Beach Games – also the World’s first – will be held in three “clusters” of locations on and close to Bali’s famous southern beaches (more detail at www.bali2008.com). It is an Olympic Council of Asia event.
Just 200 staff and so far 1000 volunteers are preparing venues, courts, accommodation, safety procedures, catering and everything else needed for athletes and their support staff, who will come from 45 countries to compete here from October 18-26.
As far as international sport is concerned, Asia includes the Middle East, now known as West Asia. That’s where the whole idea began.
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) hails from oil rich Kuwait; he wants more multi-sport events in Asia. The region already hosts three major events; the well-established Asian Games/Summer Asian Games, (Doha, Qatar in ’06), the Winter Asian Games (Cancun China, ‘06) and Indoor Asian Games (‘07 Macau, ‘09 combining Hanoi and Ho Chi Min).
With many sports still missing, Sheikh Ahmad proposed an event for beach and water-related sports. And to help Bali recover from the backlash of two bombings, the good Sheikh proposed this island for the 1st Asian Beach Games.
It was a wonderful gesture of goodwill, but a great offer is not always a simple thing. The proposal has actually presented something of a challenge to the Indonesian government, as it would to any country.
For a start, none of these international events actually make money of themselves; no city, from Beijing to Atlanta to Sydney, has enough facilities to host an Olympic Games, so governments have to find money to build them.
Even mounting a bid for a Games involves an enormous collaboration of energy, skill, heart and commitment from private and public sector, in the bidding city and country. Months and sometimes years of planning go into most Olympic bids, as cities ask and answer the difficult questions: do we have the expertise, what new facilities will we need and how much will they cost, can our city/ state/ region cope with the extra traffic, strain, building program, security risks, budget deficit? Huge sponsorships can help, but only if they materialise. Sponsors put their money where it will help their business and shareholders; they are unlikely to step up for something new and untried.
Indonesia was presented with this offer – amazing, generous, a huge boost to national pride. But unlike Kuwait and Qatar, this country does not have enormous wealth to back this enormous project. And Indonesians aren’t particularly beach goers. They love their sport, but not on the beach or in the water. Yes, Indonesia is an archipelago with vast stretches of beautiful coastline, but not many citizens are splashing about in or on the ocean.
On the other hand, the money that comes into the host country from increased tourism, the international publicity and subsequent spin-offs for business and the strengthening of national pride are some of many reasons that a bid for an international games is considered. Plus, beach and ocean sports do not need much infrastructure.
It’s not clear that an enormous amount of analysis went into accepting the offer. And yet what country would it turn down?
The Games’ Director of Operations, Ramon Suzara, makes it clear that there is no perfect country or city to hold this kind of event.
Mr Suzara, like many Filipino colleagues working on this project, played an important role in the success of similar ventures in many countries. He has been with the Asian Games since Beijing, was a technical official at the Sydney and Atlanta Olympics, and he and several others from this team played key roles at the Doha Asian Games.
“Doha had so much money - a barrel of oil every second! Here in Indonesia, the financial constraint is a challenge.”
Working out of the Sector Precinct within the grounds of the Grand Bali Beach Resort in Sanur, Mr Suzara says the situation has been different in every country. He’s picked up an enormous wealth of experience along the way and will use every bit of it to make this Games work.
“My role is to deliver the Games.”
“Rio had economic challenges. Athens had many problems; the Greeks were different, not so friendly. Sydney was much better, they had big internal problems but the volunteers were amazing. There’s always problems; management teams look for solutions.”
This Games has 12 functional areas, four of which Suzara says have to be very strong. The Sports Directorate must liase with 45 countries and their sporting officials, and the IT team is vital, as they decide the results, aiming for total accuracy.
The Venues team must deliver venues, sometimes created from scratch, to the OCA’s exacting international standards. Are the beaches wide enough? Where will the spectators go? Is access good for both competitors and observers? The “stadium” for waterpolo, played in the ocean for the first time at this level, will include massive pontoons on both the sides for spectators and umpires. The dragonboat course in the Suwung Dam must have equal, fair depth for all competing boats.
A large percentage of the sporting equipment needed has never been seen in Bali, and although there are some excellent technicians on the island, most of the sound systems, tents and other hire equipment must be imported from Java and elsewhere. Bali has never needed this much stuff!
Games Services makes everything run smoothly for the athletes, including accommodation, transport and catering. It’s not in the technical contract, but they are even hunting for yachts for one country to borrow, so they won’t have to ship them here. Transport is solved – for the athletes – by putting them in hotels next to the games’ venues.
Every day, this team provides a smooth liaison between local and national government bodies, the various national Olympic committees and other interested international organizations. Everything must run according to Olympic protocol, with many international sporting organizations coming to observe, including the executive board of the International Olympic Committee.
In Doha there was so much money that virtually all the key staff for the Games were headhunted from around the world. No problem was too big to throw money at.
The solution strategy in Bali is a small but extremely experienced management team, all veterans of several international events – from Singapore, the Philippines, England – each one of them training many local, inexperienced but mad-keen Balinese staff.
Some of the sports have never been played at such a high level before. These include beach waterpolo and beach handball. For the spectator, be it tourist or local, it will be an absolutely inspiring event.
Sports Directorate Manager Muhammad Taufiq has played a wide variety of sports, including boxing, cricket and rugby at international level. Just the right man to get things right from the competitor’s perspective.
While you might think his worst worry was terrorist attack, he’s more concerned about the weather. With dragon boating, sailing and windsurfing, long-distance swimming and waterpolo all played in or on the ocean, and para-gliding above it, tides, rain and wind are preying on his mind. And yes, the help of Hindu priests who specialise in weather management has been mooted.
Taufiq clearly has a wealth of knowledge in the management of all the sports, some of which, like paragliding and jet skiing, are new to international level competition.
The judging of paragliding relies on very sophisticated equipment. The sport has both speed and accuracy categories. Competitors have to compete along a set course, with eight points checked by GPS to very precise accuracy. Tembis at Uluwatu is the site for the speed division, where competitors are contained within sleek, aerodynamic cases, leaping off the same cliffs were the Indonesian military does its training.
Sports include surfing, beach volleyball, competitive jet skiing, bodybuilding, beach basketball, beach sepaktakraw, beach waterpolo and dragonboating. Each dragonboat, based on the traditional Chinese model, involves 10 to 26 paddlers. To Tuafiq’s surprise, after beach soccer this sport has drawn the most countries to compete (25 to soccer’s 30!).
Mrs. Rita Subowo, President of the Indonesian NOC (National Olympic Committee) says jokingly that it is a pity there isn’t beach badminton.
“To me it doesn’t matter whether we are lacking in talent in certain sports. There is a spirit of friendship and unity we’ll be celebrating amongst Asian Countries as we host 1st Asian Beach Games and I’m very grateful that Indonesia is entrusted with this event.”
Stay tuned to this space. I reckon they’ll pull it off.
Darwin resident Jen Davis, mother of waterpolo whiz Jeremy, is herself an Australian Grandmaster Dragonboat Champion. And as an Australian, she’s spent most of her life by the beach. Who better to keep us posted on the first Asian Beach Games!
