Rosida & Muhammad Ali, Husband-Wife Team Produces Runners

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

Rosida (right) and Muhammad Ali.

Rosida, 47, and Muhammad Ali, 48, are a couple that voluntarily trains children to become runners in the villages of North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara. One of the products of their work is the country’s fastest 100-meter runner, 18-year-old Lalu Muhammad Zohri.

Born to a poor family in Jotang village of Empang district in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the young Rosida was determined to improve her family\'s life. She chose athletics as a means to achieve her dream.

"Athletics, especially running, is the cheapest sport. Even if we’re barefoot, we can train to run. This was the most suitable sport for a poor person like me," Rosida said on Sunday (5/19/2019) at her house in Sigar Penjalin village, Tanjung district, North Lombok.

Rosida’s talent in sports developed when she attended the Mataram Sports Teachers School (SGO) in 1988-1991, and as she continued her studies at the Sports and Health Education Faculty of the Mataram Teacher Training and Education Institute (IKIP Mataram) in 1991-1995. There, she gained basic athletic knowledge from lectures as well as direct guidance from teachers, lecturers and her seniors.

Initially, Rosida trained in medium- and long-distance running, such as the 5K and 10K. She then tried other athletics events like the 100-meter, 200-meter and the high jump, before she decided to focus on the long jump. She has won a number of district and provincial tournaments.

In 1990 at the fifth NTB Regional Sports Week in Mataram, she won the long jump with a record of 4.75 meters. Her achievement led her to represent the province at the Junior National Athletics Championship in 1991 at Jakarta’s Senayan stadium. Unfortunately, she did not win.

Rosida did not progress significantly after the junior championship. She also began to withdraw from professional sports in mid-1997, due to her busy schedule at work and as a married woman. Yet, Rosida still felt she had something to contribute to athletics. She was dissatisfied because she had not made any achievements at the national level.

This prompted her to seek out athletes that had the potential to become champions, just as she had once dreamed. She also wanted to change the fate of gifted children for the better through sports.

Her efforts began when she started work in 1999 as a non-permanent sports teacher at SMPN 2 Tanjung state junior high school in North Lombok.

She chose athletics because it was the least expensive compared to other sports. Besides, most of her students, especially the talented ones, came from economically disadvantaged families. She also believed that people from NTB had a better chance at making a mark in running than in other sports.

"By fostering students to become runners, I wanted to help them change their destiny. I know very well how hard their life is, because I also come from a family that is more or less like theirs," said Roida, who has been a civil servant (PNS) sports teacher at North Lombok’s SMPN 1 Pemenang since 2006.

Repeat rejections

Recruiting students to become runners was not as easy as raising one’s hand. In fact, Rosida often faced rejections from the students. If the students did not refuse, their families did. This was because running was thought to be a boring sport that required heavy training. Besides, many students wanted to become soccer players.

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

Rosida (right) and Muhammad Ali gesture in their yard on Sunday (5/19/2019) in Cupek hamlet, Sigar Penalin village of Tanjung district, North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara. The husband-and-wife voluntarily scout and coach local children in athletics, and discovered Lalu Muhammad Zohri, the country’s fastest 100-meter athlete.

Nevertheless, Rosida did not give up. She continued to approach her students, and not just daily, weekly or monthly: She tried for years to approach them. One such example is Zohri. It took Rosida three years until he finally became interested in running. Her efforts only bore fruit in mid-2015, when Zohri entered the ninth grade at SMP Negeri 1 Pemenang – his final year at junior high.

Rosida coached Zohri for 7-8 months, training him in basic running techniques. Her coaching led Zohri to win the 100 meter, 200 meter and 4 x 100 meter relay in December 2015 at the NTB Regional Championship in Mataram, and the NTB Student Training Center (PPLP) recruited him in mid-2016.

"I saw that the boy was gifted when Zohri first enrolled in junior high. So I invited him to try running. But Zohri always refused because he preferred soccer. Alhamdulillah [thanks be to God], he finally became willing to try running in the ninth grade," said Rosida.

In her search for talent, Rosida observed the students’ movements during their daily activities and sports classes. Gifted students were generally energetic and always active. They were agile and fast. In addition, they had a lean frame and strong posture.

Aside from Zohri, Rosida once helped another SMP Negeri 1 Pemenang student to become a national athlete: 100-meter runner Sudirman Hadi. Now 23, Sudirman took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics. After Zohri, she helped 16-year-old Agus of SMPN 2 Tanjung and 16-year-old Mirawan of SMPN 3 Bayan – both North Lombok students – to be admitted to the PPLP NTB training center.

Free coaching

Rosida did not charge a penny to coach her students. She trained them simply because she wanted to help. Her training group typically has 5-15 students from SMPN 1 Pemenang, SMPN 2 Tanjung and several other junior high schools in the North Lombok area, as well as children from her neighborhood.

Rosida’s husband Muhammad Ali always accompanied her during the training sessions. Ali also scouted talented students at the school where he taught, SMPN 2 Tanjung. Ali was also an IKIP Mataram alumnus, which he attended in 1990-1994, so he also possessed a lot of knowledge about the athletics.

Not only did the couple coach the students, they also picked up the students who lived in far and isolated areas, like the mountains. They also provided lunch at times, and provided shirts and shoes to several students who ran in tournaments. Rosida and Ali provided all on a volunteer basis.

Last year, Rosida and Ali even fostered Winayang, 15, a student from SMP Satap 2 Bayan. Winayang was talented in the 3K, 5K and 10K, but the village he came from did not have coaches or adequate training facilities.

On recognizing the student’s abilities, Ali invited Winayang to stay with his family so he could obtain more adequate training. "We observed Winayang when he took part in the training held by PASI North Lombok," said Ali, referring to the Indonesia Athletics Federation.

Ali and Rosida have been board members of PASI North Lombok since 2015, after helping to launch Sudirman Hadi’s international career.

Rosida and Ali provide training sessions three times a week wherever they can, because North Lombok does not have adequate athletic facilities. They usually trained their runners on school grounds, at a soccer field, at beaches or in the hills. Four months ago, Ali built a 50-meter track and a 25-meter long jump training facility at his house.

Ali used his own money to build the long jump facility at a cost of Rp 900,000. On April 28, the Ali’s training facility hosted the regency’s National Student Sports Olympiad (O2SN) – for free.

"My dream now is to build a high-jumping training facility in the middle of the yard. However, the plan has not been realized because I don\'t have the money yet," said Ali, who gives motivational classes to the village children every Sunday.

Rosida and Ali\'s efforts have been known for many years, particularly since Zohri\'s accomplishments. As a result, the local government awarded Rosida with a scholarship in 2018 to train for the first-level national coaching license. She also received a number of awards and prizes from the local and central governments, as well as from private companies, for her services in discovering Zohri.

"These are all just bonuses. For us, seeing these children become athletes and perform well makes us very happy," she said.

Muhammad Ali

Born: Pemasar village, Maronge district, Sumbawa, NTB, Nov. 24, 1970

Education: Education and Health Faculty, IKIP Mataram (1990-1994)

Children: Steffi Grafala Primadonalda, 21, Sabrina Grafala Rosali, 13, Muhammad Zidane Gulinda, 8, Muhammad Zidane Gultom, 3

Rosida

Born: Jotang village, Empang district, Sumbawa, NTB, Feb. 12, 1972

Education: Education and Health Faculty, IKIP Mataram (1991-1995)