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Bambang Pramukantoro: The manager of fortune
Bambang Pramukantoro
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Bambang Pramukantoro. Antara
With the triumph of Indonesia's Garuda Muda team at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U-19 Youth Championship still ringing in his ears, All Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) East Java general chairman Bambang Pramukantoro, 49, is convinced of the bright future of Indonesian soccer.
'We have the potential to excel in this sport. But serious effort is needed to build our local soccer world,' said Bambang, who is former manager of the Surabaya Football Association (Persebaya).
Therefore, his only choice as head of the regional PSSI is to charge, full steam ahead, and ensure the growth of national soccer is handled professionally.
Realizing the sport is itself an industry with widespread influence, he hopes the central PSSI, after its infamous leadership crisis, will play its part in boosting soccer on the national stage.
The father of three from Bantul, Yogyakarta, is committed to reinvigorating Indonesian soccer.
'Soccer should be treated with honestly, in the spirit of sportsmanship,' stressed Bambang.
According to him, restructuring and well-directed competitions are needed to address the current state of the game. Athletes should be scouted and trained from an early age and set clear, attainable targets. Apart from their playing skills, they should also develop intellectually and be encouraged to have a clear, wider vision.
While following various soccer events in East Java and when acting as team manager, Bambang set up a school in cooperation with the UK's Arsenal Football Club, called Surabaya Arsenal Soccer School. The school focuses on the training of youngsters aged 8-15 to enable them to become capable players. The institution applies the same methodology as Arsenal and has 15 coaches from the UK, Brazil and Surabaya, mentoring 400 trainees.
For the East Java PSSI, Bambang says in order to churn out reliable athletes, vast resources - financial as well as human - are needed. Not only to cover salaries but also to fulfill physical and intellectual requirements, for which there should be clear indicators.
'People say Indonesia can't compete because its players are small in stature. So how come Brazilian players, typically the same build as Indonesians, excel at soccer while we don't? It's due to our lack of training. So we are going to start the whole process correctly at Surabaya Arsenal, right down to the right diet,' he assured.
East Java with its 38 regencies and cities has competitions like the U-17, Division 3 and those for pre-season and gubernatorial trophies, described by Bambang as a means of securing quality soccer clubs.
'The competitions are expected to serve as warm-up events for the East Java team to appear in the Indonesia Super League season,' he said.
To scout players, Bambang surveys fields and neighborhoods. Accorrding to him, many potential players are missed because they lack the facilities to perform properly. It's such gifted youths that Bambang wishes to net.
'We spotted Evan Dimas at a Puslada [regional training center]. We have the strategy to enable more talent like Evan Dimas to join teams,' he pointed out, without elaborating. 'We would like to recieve corporate social responsibility [CSR] funds for the promotion of soccer: If we are able to prove that we can manage their contributions properly, they will surely be ready to donate,' said Bambang, who plans to meet with entrepreneurs in Surabaya to rouse their interest in donating their CSR allocations to soccer.
Bambang leads by example and has been known to make donations to the East Java PSSI from his own pocket. His company, Be One, supports football activities in the province in much the same way that Herbalife works in America, acting as a sponsor for the American League team LA Galaxi.
Asked about the poor performance of Indonesian players, Bambang proposed that those already included in the U-19 team should not return to their clubs. 'They should keep the same rhythm and momentum,' said the graduate of the Industrial Engineering Academy of Surakarta, Central Java.
He has proven his skill while managing Persebaya over the past nine months. His team, under his direction, won everyone of the 22 matched they played and Bambang was dubbed the 'manager of fortune'.
Besides supporting football, Be One and Bambang also champion issues such as children of marginal families suffering from heart, lung or brain failure. He has felt the heart break of losing a child, Sarah, to diseases such as these. So, he established the Sarah Foundation to help people in.
