Evaluating KORMI’S Role in Preserving Traditional Sports and Games in Indonesia: A Qualitative Survey

Traditional sports and games are forms of living cultural heritage whose continuity depends on regular practice, intergenerational transmission, community recognition, and supportive institutions. This study evaluated how participants with direct experience of KORMI, community sport organizations, or traditional sport activities interpreted the role of the Indonesian Community Sports Committee (Komite Olahraga Masyarakat Indonesia, KORMI) in preservation. Using purposive sampling, a qualitative descriptive-evaluative survey involved 28 participants from 21 Indonesian provinces. Data were collected from January to March 2026 through an open-ended questionnaire distributed via Google Forms. Three experts reviewed the instrument, followed by a pilot test with five individuals who were not included in the main study. The single author analyzed the responses using reflexive thematic analysis with deductive attention to collaborative-governance and safeguarding concepts and inductive openness to participant-generated patterns. Six themes were identified: institutional coordination, festivals and cultural visibility, youth regeneration, multi-stakeholder collaboration, digital promotion and documentation, and program sustainability. The analysis indicates that participants perceived KORMI primarily as a coordinating and connecting institution, while also identifying a recurring tension between event visibility and year-round preservation. The study proposes an ecosystem-based preservation framework as a conceptual synthesis rather than a tested model. Findings are not nationally representative and rely on self-reported online responses without observation or follow-up interviewing. Keywords: KORMI; traditional sports and games; cultural preservation; community sport; sport governance.