A Sports Science Study Program (IKOR) lecturer in Faculty of Public Health (FKM) Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang (UNIMUS), Agung Widodo, SPd., MOr has succeeded in publishing a collection of sports opinions articles. The book entitled: The New Era of National Sports (Collection of Opinions Regarding National Sports Events and Policies) is a multidisciplinary perspective from a collection of the author’s works on national sports events and policies over the past three years, from mid-2020 to early 2023.
The lecturer also teaches a Sports Issues and Policy course at the S-1 IKOR FKM UNIMUS. He hoped that his book could be a national sports record from the beginning, during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic. “I hope this book will be useful for all readers. Especially for sports students who take sports issues and policies courses. I hope it can be more critical in seeing and responding to sports phenomena and issues that occur from various perspectives. Besides, it can be a source of suggestions for the author’s thoughts in the development of national sports, “he said.
The book has eight chapters. In the first chapter, it contains sports trends in the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The author reviews sports trends with new habits through two articles entitled “New Cycling Norms in the New Normal Era” and “Is Wearing a Mask When Exercising Really Dangerous?”.
The second chapter contains a number of events in the dimensions of competitive sports through four articles entitled “Sports, Anti-Doping, and the New Era”, “After the WADA Sanctions were Removed”, “SEA Games and the New Paradigm of Sports”, and “Implementing National Sports Design (DBON) to Create Champions”.
Furthermore, the third chapter contains the revival of the Indonesian sports tourism sector which was affected by the pandemic. There are four articles that discuss related theme, namely “Sports Tourism, Pandemic, and Woodball”, “Jogja, The City of Soccer Tourism”, “Fun Football and Muslim-Friendly Tourism”, “Sport Tourism”, and “After the Tour de Prambanan, Then What?”.
In chapter four, the author reviews the issues of sport and equality through two articles entitled “Paralympics, Legitimacy of Equality and Religion” and “Against Stereotypes of Women’s Football”. Chapter five discusses physical activity for physical and mental health, through the writings entitled “Children, Pandemic, and Sedentary Behavior”, “Playing, Post-Disaster Trauma Healing for Children”, and “Levels in Physical Literacy of DIY People”.
Meanwhile in chapter six, the author highlights a number of events on the national football scene through three articles entitled “Naturalization Is Not the Only Solution”, “No More Deaths on Footballs!”, and “Football for Life”. In chapter seven, the author reviews an active healthy lifestyle through two articles entitled “Maintaining Ideal Weight after Eid” and “Vape, Lifestyle and Wellness”. In the last chapter, the author highlights the development of the sports industry sector in Indonesia through two articles entitled “Fun Football Phenomena and the Sports Industry” and “Sportainment Industry”.
The Dean of FKM UNIMUS, Dr. Sayono, SKM., MKes (Epid), expressed his appreciation and hoped that the publication of this book could become an advantage of the IKOR FKM UNIMUS study program and become a trigger for all lecturers to improve their performance in disseminating knowledge through the publication of works.