| Universiti Putra Malaysia

The Raja Muda of Perlis is pleased to complete the Baseball Field Groundbreaking Ceremony

By: Noor Eszereen Juferi

Photo by: Noor Azreen Awang

 

SERDANG, Oct 24 – The Raja Muda of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail, was pleased to complete the UPM Baseball Groundbreaking Ceremony for the first baseball field in the country at the Sports Centre, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail, who is also the Royal Patron of the Baseball Federation Malaysia (BFM), congratulated UPM for its initiative in building the baseball field facility on its UPM Serdang campus as it will greatly benefit the sport both home and abroad.

He said as a major higher education institution in sports and academia, UPM should continue to work hard to keep baseball in the championship schedule for skills training as well as a means for 'talent scouting', on par with other sports in the country.

 

“UPM and BFM have also formed a strategic partnership with Seibu Lions Club from Japan. Hopefully, there will be more cooperation with other industries in the future,” Tuanku added.

Earlier, his arrival was greeted by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni), UPM, Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation), UPM, Prof. Dr. Zulkifli Idrus; Registrar, Dato' Wan Azman Wan Omar; UPM Chief Librarian, Muzaffar Shah Kassim; and the Head of UPM Sports Centre, Dr. Hanafiah Ayub.

In his welcome speech, Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan expressed his gratitude and appreciation to BFM for its cooperation in realising a baseball programme in UPM.

"The decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UPM and BFM will facilitate active development of baseball in UPM, particularly in the preparation for the development of baseball programme," he said.

He said the UPM Sports Centre, in collaboration with BFM and the Ministry of Education, had organised trainings for coaches and personnel to meet the demands for qualified staff in the baseball sports industry which would have a positive impact on the development of the sport.

“Efforts to introduce baseball to school students have also been carried out. UPM Sports Centre has currently adopted four schools in Selangor to be involved in the sport,” he said.

The efforts taken by the UPM Sports Centre have convinced Seibu Lions Baseball Club from Japan to donate baseball equipment to the centre this year to support the development programmes for the different demographics and educational levels of the sport.

Baseball started its foothold at UPM in 2015. UPM has its own men's baseball team and two coaches from Japan who are assisted by local coaches.

In 2016, UPM organised its first International Invitational Baseball Championship with saw the participation of UPM men's baseball team, Malaysian baseball clubs and two baseball academy clubs from India.

UPM also has two female baseball athletes in the National Women's Baseball team who took part in the Blueseeds Cup International Championship in Taipei last March. - UPM

 

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