Olak a rags-to-success story

09/06/1998

THE banner OLAK BOLEH said it all for Old La Sallians of Klang in the just
concluded MHF-Milo-NSC National Junior League.
The League and Overall champions faithfully trudged the old and
discoloured banner from match to match and during the final on Sunday, a
Malaysian HF official said: "If you compare Olak's old, handmade banner to
Malacca Municipal Council's printed one, you can conclude that the club
don't have much money to spare."
How true, but Olak proved that money does not make champions. The
millions spent on the national hockey team went down the drain in Utretch
while cash-strapped Olak were crowned double champions back home.
"The reason why Olak players have managed to come so far is not because
we had the facilities to train them ... it was the reverse. The players
knew Olak could not afford to give them anything but training, so they
played for the winner's purse," said Olak assistant team manager Joseph de
Silva.
Some would argue that Olak have been playing as a team for four years,
but so have the Malaysian team.
"Only half the team will be eligible to play next year but that won't
worry us because many players have approached us to join the team. We are
willing to train as many as possible with our small budget.
"Our biggest sponsor is team president Datuk Jeffrey Ng Keng Keong, who
was instrumental in our success in the Junior League."
The trophies that Olak won are not sitting pretty in a cabinet but
travelling from school to school.
"Today (yesterday), four of our players from the Sekolah Tunku Ampuan
Rahimah were honoured during the school assembly. We are also planning to
hold a similar assembly at the Anglo Chinese School (ACS) because Redzuan
Ponirin, who scored the vital goal in the final, is from ACS."
MMC were another story. A team that started from scratch to a team that
showed class in their debut final.
"Although we lost the overall title to Olak, there was no shame in
defeat because we lost to a better team. Next year, we will be more
prepared to mount a stronger challenge," said MMC coach Eugene Lee.
MMC and Johor Sports Council are the only silver lining in the Junior
League.
When the League was incepted in 1995, Yayasan Negri Sembilan won both
the titles while a year later, it was Electrical Switchgears Automation
(ESA) who did a double.
Last year, Olak won the League while ESA won the Overall title. The
other teams were there to make up the numbers.
(END)