A former national athlete, Jayanteh once represented Malaysia in national and ASEAN-level competitions. She always had a vision of seeing more sportspersons from Johor. In 2009, she set up the Super Star Sports Club (Kelab Olahraga Super Star) to recruit and train students to tap on their potential of becoming future athletes who will bring pride to Johor.
Jayanteh was a one-woman show when she started; she had to wait six months for an approval from the Sports Council before she could kickstart her ideas. She single-handedly visited schools, both primary and secondary, to propose her idea of spotting talent and coaching students. Eventually, her idea was well-received and supported. The Sports Council acknowledged her effort by sponsoring her for coaching and sports-related courses. At schools, she trained teachers on ways to spot potential athletes by looking assessing their talent, and by identifying bone and body structures. Jayanteh herself spent three years in a school to train potential athletes to see if they could qualify for national-level sports events. She started alone, training only two students. Today, she has seven coaches who offer their services completely free-of-charge to the club’s 600 members.
For the SUKMA XX Johor Games that will be held in Johor, Jayanteh has confirmed that she will send two of her athletes for running events. The two boys are in their SPM year, and she has decided to care for both their academics and sports commitment. Discipline is the top quality all athletes must possess in order to be successful, and Jayanteh plays the part as a coach-cum-nurturer, making sure the two boys are balancing everything well. She took them in to live with her, sponsoring not only their accommodation but their food and tuition fees as well. Under Coach Jayanteh’s care, the two young athletes follow a strict schedule of waking up at 6 AM. for school, attending tuition after school at 2.45 PM, training for two hours from 5.30 PM, and then returning to finish homework. Usage of phones or going out is not encouraged. This daily routine sees no complaints; the athletes understand that this is what they need to go through to achieve the gold medals they desire. Jayanteh makes sure all their activities and timings are reported to the Sports Council.
As times change, Jayanteh said she needs to constantly upgrade her knowledge and attend newer coaching courses. The 48-year-old mother of four, whose children are also athletes, said the lifestyle and eating habits in “her days” and now are completely different, therefore, there is a need for different techniques and coaching methods.
Describing herself as “sports crazy”, she wants to do more to spot and recruit Johor talents. She said she will not stop until it becomes a record in her books that one of her coaches has attained gold in SEA Games. For now, she also plans to conduct courses for parents and teachers to elevate and encourage sports amongst their children and students.
Go for Gold!
