WELCOME TO BIG FAMILY OF "LAZIOINDONESIA"
As a non-Italian, following Lazio’s progress on the international
front is an issue that is very close to my heart. For decades, we have
been portrayed horribly by the worldwide press and there are no signs of
immediate change. Couple that injustice with an official website that in the eyes of
many falls short of being inadequate (an official website that should be
given a whole new interface tomorrow, incidentally) and the onus falls
on individuals to create their own community and generate the positive
energy our club needs to engage beyond the confines of Rome.
Today, we feature Lazio
Indonesia; a group of people that almost defy belief. What many calcio
lovers do not realise is that the Italian game is simply massive in Asia
and is continuing to grow. When our boys headed for Beijing to take on
Inter in the Italian Supercup last summer, for sure, it was to expand
the growth of the game in the region but it was also a blatant attempt
to exploit a pre-existing market. I like to keep abreast of these
matters and I happen to know that the vast majority of visitors to
english-speaking calcio sites are Asian and more specifically,
Indonesian. With that in mind, I had to get our representatives to share
their experiences with a larger audience.
LAZIO INDONESIA MEMBERSHIP CARD (tessera del
tifoso, eat your heart out).
Thus, I will begin this feature by giving you the words of Felix
Wijaya, founder of Lazio
Indonesia and a man whose enthusiasm evidently extends into the
group he has helped create:
“Lazio Indonesia is the friendliest and coolest community there
is. Whether we are aware of it or not, we have become one, big, happy
family. We all love Lazio and would support them forever, no matter if
they win, lose, draw or end up in Serie C.”
“I hope Lazio Indonesia will become even more tight-knit and that
we become more connected with one another and also grow cooler and
trendier. In the future, we hope that we can be the official group for
Lazio in Indonesia and that we can all go to the Olimpico in Rome and
watch Lazio together.”
One of the things that instantaneously struck me with these guys is that
they really are a band of brothers. I mean, just from linking up with
them on Facebook, I have been blown away by how much everyone at Lazio
Indonesia co-operates outside of game time on a Sunday. In order
to get the full picture, I spoke with Adrian, Lazio Indonesia’s
regional officer and head moderator of their FB group (when I say
spoke, I have actually interrogated Adrian for months and I cannot thank
him enough for his help). I asked Adrian to fill me in on absolutely
everything since I am incredibly jealous of their event schedule and
have thought about booking flights over on more than one occasion.
LAZIO INDONESIA
What type of work does Lazio Indonesia do? What are your
ambitions as a community?
“There are many activities undertaken by Lazio Indonesia such as
futsal competitions, nobar, charitable events etc. As the admin/creator
of the LI facebook group, I hope LI members will increase daily in
number and we will gain a strong base in Indonesia. I also hope that LI
can go official, and become known by laziale around the world.
Therefore, I am very grateful to you because with your help this means
we are already achieving something similar by promoting LI throughout
the world.”
Nobar and Futsal are terms that may be unfamiliar to some.
Can you explain what these events entail and perhaps comment briefly on
Lazio Indonesia’s charity work?
“Nobar is an abbreviation for Nonton Bareng. This translates into
english as watching live Lazio games on a big screen, usually in a cafe
or a food court. So, each week we do the nobar, not only in Jakarta,
the capital city of Indonesia, but also in Bandung City, Jogja City,
Surabaya City, and other cities across Indonesia.”
“Futsal is our favorite sport because in Indonesia, we find it
very difficult to find a football stadium that is cheap to rent. With
futsal, which is essentially 5-a-side soccer, it is simpler and cheaper
for us than football.”
“As for charity work, we have helped raise funds for earthquake
and flood victims and have aided with blood donorship for the Indonesian
Red Cross.”
What are you most proud of as being part of Lazio Indonesia?
What is your fondest memory?
“In Indonesia, there are many other club communities aside from Lazio
Indonesia. We have Milanisti Indonesia, Interisti Indonesia , Juventini
Indonesia, etc. and they all have a very strong base compared with Lazio
Indonesia. However, we have pride in that we are not a glory hunting
fans. We love this club just the way it is and we are not necessarily
expecting this club to add to our achievements. We are proud to be
laziali in Indonesia although we don’t have the strongest base in terms
of numbers.”
“My best memory in Lazio Indonesia was when we watched a Lazio –
Roma derby last year with Indonesian romanisti. Lazio won 4-2 and there
were many Indonesian romanisti who felt embarrassed at that time. You
know, it was such a great satisfaction to see them cry over us…”
I believe there is something exciting in the pipeline around
derby time? Can you tell me more about it?
“Yes, there is a National Gathering; an annual event for our
community where more than a hundred laziali will attend from all over
Indonesia. This year, it will be held in Yogyakarta, Beach Parangkusumo
on 6-7 November 2010. At National Gathering, we will hold a meeting for
Lazio Indonesia staff to elect for 2010/2011. This includes the electing
of the president to the regional staff. That aside, we will also gather
to support Lazio in the derby by watching them on television.”
LAZIO INDONESIA FUTSAL TEAM
To brush up on the more technical aspects, I got in touch with Dion
Barus who is responsible for the Lazio Indonesia
forum and asked him to, basically, outline the past, the present and
where possible, the future of the forum.
LAZIO INDONESIA – THE 4-2 DERBY
“I have been working on the forum since March 2009 because there
were various message boards and unofficial forums in different sites and
to make a single integrated forum for Indonesian Laziali was
advantageous for us. We aim to be the medium for Indonesian laziali to
share their thoughts, ideas and passion for la Lazio. That medium is LI
official forum (recognisable to many laziali). I’ve almost forgotten but
setting the forum was relatively easy and only took around five hours.
At present, we have c50 regular members who visit on a daily basis.
Since Lazio is not a particularly well supported club in Indonesia, I
think that’s a pretty adequate figure for us. We discuss many topics on
the forum, mostly about Lotito and Rioma, admittedly.”
“Since Lazio Indonesia is developing a new site, I’m still
discussing with all moderators and admin in LI site about integrating
the forum to the new site. Facebook has developed a huge market in
Indonesia recently, so finding the most fruitful way forward is a time
consuming process, especially with regard to the current and future use
of the forum.”
LAZIO INDONESIA – THE COPPA ITALIA FINAL 2009
To conclude this feature, I had to track down our Indonesian
counterpart in Idray; the blogger who brings all the news direct
to the Lazio Indonesia community in their own native langauge:
“I started blogging in November 2008. The release date of my
first post is 29th November 2008. I blog anything about Lazio; latest
news, previews, calcio mercato and I also give my own personal opinion
on Lazio. Certain aspects of blogging is easy, finding the results of
games and reporting on them is fine but then, you have things such as
Lazio’s annual presentation where the entire squad gathers together for
photographs and tracking down the information can be almost impossible.
Romanisti have visited the blog in the past, although, I was debating
with them in their group. My highlight as a blogger was surely the 4-2
derby victory. It was a beautiful victory and my first time to join
directly in the nobar. I was so happy because at last, I could see in
person how the Romanisti in Indonesia react to the defeat of their team
and enjoy the full embarrassment of it.”
LAZIO INDONESIA – SPYING ON THE RIOMANISTI
Hopefully you can now see for yourselves that in Indonesia, we have
real laziali. What kills me inside is that many of these boys, purely
due to the mother of all drawbacks in geography, will never set foot in
the Olimpico. They deserve better for their efforts and the
dedication they give to our club. All I can promise them is that I will
drop by somewhere close to derby time and see how they are all getting
on. For now, I hope their story inspires you in the same way I am
continually motivated by their progress.
Forza Lazio. Forza Lazio Indonesia.
Agenda
User Statistics
 Today's visitors | : 60 |
 Total visitors | : 83665 |
| Today's hits | : 446 |
| Total Hits | : 549763 |
 Online visitors | : 6 |
