"Breaking Boundaries", The Regeneration Program For Athletes With Disabilities For The 2028 Paralympics

NPC General Chair Senny Marbun. (Gonang Susatyo)

SOLO - Indonesia's National Paralympic Committee (NPC) has launched a program to recruit young athletes with disabilities. Through the "Breaking Boundary" program, the NPC hopes to attract young athletes from various regions who are expected to become the backbone of Indonesia at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.

"Indonesia is lagging behind. Our achievements at the Paralympics are shy because they only get one gold medal," said NPC Chairman Senny Marbun in Solo, Tuesday, January 7, 2025.

Indonesia's achievements at the ASEAN Para Games (APG) are actually not disappointing. Even Indonesia scored a hat trick in the 2017, 2022 and 2023 APG. The brilliant record of the Red and White team is increasingly complete because it won four times from five participations in APG. Indonesia successfully broke Thailand's dominance at the Southeast Asian level.

However, Indonesia had to compete fiercely with Thailand when competing in the Asian Para Games (APG) or at the Asian level. Even in the Paralympics, Indonesia is far behind Thailand. At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Thailand was able to win six gold. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Singapore pocketed two gold medals. Compared to Indonesia which only got one gold.

"With conditions like this, the NPC will enter the regions to get young athletes. Through the "Break the Boundary" program which is a nursery festival, we hope that young athletes will emerge who will be fostered and undergo training camps in Solo for three months," said Senny who was accompanied by Secretary General Ukun Rukaendi, Deputy Secretary General Rima Ferdianto and Public Relations Heri "Gogor" Isranto.

According to Senny, for three months the athletes will receive a jump at the Indonesian Paralympic Training Center in Karanganyar, Central Java. Furthermore, they were evaluated whether they had talents that could be further developed or failed so that they were returned to their area.

"This is in the athlete regeneration program. So the recruitment for athletes aged a maximum of 23. It's time for athletes to regenerate because it's a lot of age. Our target is clear, namely the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Indonesia must be able to enter the top 10 Paralympics," he said.

"Athlet regeneration must be done. We have lost to Thailand who carried out intensive coaching. Now, they have a second-tier athlete and even a third-year-old athlete. Thailand is not willing to dominate the ASEAN Para Games," said Senny again.

The "Breaking Boundaries" program will be implemented in all provinces in Indonesia. Those who undergo the selection will not compete or participate in the competition. For three days participating in the festival, the athletes only play games. If they have quality, they pass the selection and undergo training camp. Athletes are also directed to pursue sports that allow them to excel.

"There are many athletes who have wrongly joined sports. This is what makes them fail to excel. Our plan is to direct them to pursue what branch to achieve," added Rima.

Rima, furthermore, the NPC has focused on early childhood coaching. This makes Indonesia may be unable to compete with Thailand at the 2026 ASEAN Para Games which will be held in their country.

The reason is, there are several sports such as wheelchair fencing, taekwondo and e-sports that are dominated by Thailand. The sport also provides many medals.

"We are still looking for athletes for the branch. Obviously we lost to Thailand because they have athletes in the branch and have been prepared for a long time," said Rima.

"In APG 2026 in Thailand, we may lose. But we will bounce back to APG in Malaysia and Singapore. Likewise in the Paralympics, we already have to improve the rankings," he said.