Embassy Celebrates Youth Sports Programs with Students, Former Captain of Indonesian Futsal Team

January 17, 2013

Embassy Celebrates Youth Sports Programs with Students, Former Captain of Indonesian Futsal Team

On January 16, U.S. Embassy Jakarta staff and Susan Stevenson, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs who is visiting Indonesia from Washington, D.C., joined students from Serang for a sports practice session at the Senayan Sports Complex in Jakarta.  The students are participating in an Embassy-sponsored sports program run in cooperation with the Asian Soccer Association (ASA) Foundation.  Vennard Hutabarat, former captain of the Indonesian National Futsal Team, also attended the practice session at Senayan and showed off an impressive display of dribbling skills. 

The ASA sports program runs for six months and includes weekly training clinics in soccer and basketball, as well as classroom instruction.  It is open to girls and boys alike and uses sports to teach the importance of teamwork, communication, respect and fair play.  Bekasi was the first city selected to participate in the program, and Serang is the second.  In March 2013, U.S. Embassy Jakarta will send to the United States twelve standout alumni from the Serang and Bekasi programs, along with two adult escorts, for a Sports Visitors program funded by the U.S. State Department.  The 14-day basketball-themed visit to America includes basketball clinics and instruction in fields such as nutrition, fitness, life skills, conflict resolution, and disability sports.  The students will visit Washington, D.C. and have a chance to tour U.S. high schools and universities.

Also as part of the January 16 program was a visit to the @america cultural center.  At @america, Mr. Suyadi Pawiro, from the Ministry of Youth and Sport’s Youth Empowerment Division, and Ms. Masany Gultom, representing the Development Basketball League Indonesia, talked to students about the importance of sports for building character and life skills.  During his remarks, Mr. Pawiro encouraged the students traveling to America to take maximum advantage of the great opportunity and, upon their return, share with other Indonesians what they learn sports and American culture.