Drastic changes needed

26/03/2002

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and the National Sports Council will
meet today to chart the future of hockey and by the look of things,
drastic changes need to be made.
The game is slowly dying as schools are no longer the nursery which it
used to be and this was evident during the recent Champion Schools
Tournament in Malacca.
The 2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup also showed that the present pool of
players cannot be prodded to a higher level because they have reached
saturation point. A revamp must be done and, as harsh as it may sound,
replacing 50 per cent of the players will be the first step.
MHF deputy president Tan Sri P. Alagendra also said that a blueprint of
sorts will be formulated after the meeting today, because "we need to
inject fresh blood into the sport."
"Coach Paul Lissek and World Cup team manager Datuk R. Yogeswaran will
be among the officials who will recommend future plans for hockey. I am
confident we will be able to come out with a strong plan," said Alagendra.
After Malaysia's miserable outing in the Junior World Cup in Hobart,
Tasmania last year, the MHF have yet to make public, even after persistent
enquiries, what came out of the plans submitted by coach Yahya Atan and
team manager Ariffin Ghani.
This time when the World Cup officials meet and discuss, it is hoped
that they will bring up the glaring weaknesses in the Malaysian team and
find solutions quickly because Malaysia will be competing in the all-
important Asian Games in September where the target is to win a medal.
The national team, when preparing for the World Cup, received every aid
from the MHF and the NSC, including overseas stints in the hope of forging
a strong side. But in the end, Malaysia even struggled to beat the fast-
rising Japanese.
Japan were ever grateful to Malaysia for inviting them to the Champions
Challenge and then the Six-Nation in January because their team grew in
confidence after both tournaments. But sadly, the Malaysian players did
not benefit from the tournaments which were specially held in Malaysia for
their benefit.
Maybe the MHF and the NSC should stop pampering the national players and
go the Japanese way. The Japanese did not have enough money to travel to
Malaysia for the Six-Nation but the players forked out their own money to
buy flight tickets. They played their hearts out during the tournament and
even beat Malaysia with a sudden-death goal.
Maybe the MHF and NSC should seriously ponder this and for one or two
future tournaments, ask the players to pay their own airfare.
This might not go down too well with the players, but Timesport is sure
that when the money comes out from their own pockets, the will to play
better will be there. Alternatively, set a target for the overseas
tournament and if the players fail to reach it, then ask them to reimburse
the fare for the flight tickets.
There is no more room for a soft approach, the whip must be brought out
to get the national players into shape.
The MHF-NSC meeting must also come out with plans to scout for more
strikers.
The national team had to defend in most of the World Cup matches because
they they had nobody upfront to score after Suhaimi Ibrahim chose not to
play for the national team. Now, Suhaimi will be donning Maybank colours
in the Malaysia Hockey League which starts on Friday.
Suhaimi, it is believed, was at looggerheads with Lissek and pulled out
of the World Cup training squad.
A senior hockey official also revealed yesterday that some of the
national players have said that if Lissek remains in charge, they will
quit hockey.
Trouble is brewing at the highest level and the MHF-NSC meeting should
nip it at the bud before player-power turns away a world class coach and
Malaysia will be forced back to square one.
MHF and NSC must also impress upon Lissek to be more adventurous in his
game plan. Granted, he had better defenders than strikers in the World Cup
so he had to play defensive, but everyone knows that the best form of
defence is attack and keep the ball upfront.
The meeting will also decide on which invitations the national team will
accept for this year and topping the list is the Panasonic Cup in Germany
in the middle of the year.
Malaysia received the invitation for the five-star tournament for the
first time, and if the team has to forego the Four-Nation invitation which
clashes with the Panasonic Cup, so be it. The players will benefit more
from playing in Germany than the Four-Nation which involves Australia,
South Korea, Argentina and Malaysia.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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