KUALA LUMPUR — In today’s sporting landscape, athletes cannot rely solely on performance to sustain a professional career. Commercial branding is equally important for long-term success.
In Malaysia, shuttler Lee Zii Jia sets the benchmark for what it means to be a successful independent athlete when he established his professional setup, Team LZJ, in 2022 after securing a multi-million sponsorship deal with sports equipment brand Victor.
Team LZJ comprises a dedicated head coach, team manager, physical conditioning coach, physiotherapist, and several sparring partners.
Just two years after turning professional, the 26-year-old men’s singles player has returned to the world’s top five and secured an Olympic bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
Fellow Victor ambassador and Olympic silver medallist Goh Liu Ying recently spoke to Scoop, sharing her thoughts on what it takes to be a successful independent player like Zii Jia.
“I agree, it’s very challenging to be an independent player if you don’t have the right support.
“Apart from performing well, you also need to market yourself. Independent players aren’t like national players, who only need to focus on their training and performance, because the national body takes care of everything else.
“As independent players, we have to manage sponsor obligations, training and tournament schedules, coaches, and other support services,” said Liu Ying, who, along with her former mixed doubles partner Chan Peng Soon, was among the first prominent players to pursue a professional career after transitioning from the national setup.
Liu Ying also highlighted the importance of being frugal with their finances, particularly when planning tournaments and hiring coaches.
“Everything has to be very detailed. If we want to go for tournaments, we have to do our own calculations to see how much we will win if we hit certain targets. Otherwise, we’d be running at a loss.
“If we want to hire coaches, we need to check with our sponsors to make sure there is no conflict of interest.
“On top of that, there will be certain sponsorship obligations like attending events or functions. Thankfully, most sponsors understand our schedule and only invite us for events during our downtime.”
Liu Ying’s comments come in the wake of newly-crowned Japan Open champions Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani’s decision to turn professional at the start of the month.
Sze Fei and Izzuddin, who also joined the Victor family, have started training with other professional doubles players in Sri Petaling under the guidance of former internationals Teo Kok Siang and Rosman Razak.
It is understood that more players are expected to turn professional next year after the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) completes its yearly review exercise.
For now, it is clear that unless an athlete follows a path similar to Zii Jia’s, the road to turning professional remains a challenging one. — September 6, 2024