NSC puts hockey academy on hold

30/04/2002

THE National Sports Council (NSC) has placed the proposal to build a
hockey academy at the Tun Razak Stadium in cold storage, and will only re-
consider their decision when the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) clean
up their act.
NSC director general Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad said yesterday that he is
not willing to talk about the academy until MHF start thinking seriously
about development at the grassroots.
Mazlan looked fed-up with the current situation in the MHF, who have not
called for a council meeting for three years and also did not call for a
competitions committee meeting before organising the MHL or calling for
Junior Hockey League entries.
"The current situation needs to be cleaned up before we (NSC) are even
willing to think about a hockey academy. What if we spend millions to
build an academy at the Tun Razak Stadium but only a handful of students
enrol? What if it is not professionally run? Who is going to answer to the
taxpayers?," questioned Mazlan.
A proposal to build a hockey academy was made in January and it was said
that Ho Koh Chye will be a key figure in its daily running. But Koh Chye
has since quit the sport and the NSC have frozen the proposal.
Mazlan was justified in raising the above questions because the MHF
coaching committee's course at the NSC seminar room yesterday only saw the
presence of eight coaches.
Invitations were sent out to 30 coaches who are handling teams from the
Malaysia Hockey League, Razak Cup, Malaysia Games, Level Three Coaches and
Sports Schools - and the organisers were expecting at least 30 to attend
the day-long seminar, but national coach Paul Lissek and Stephen van
Hiuzen were clearly disappointed with the lack of interest.
"Just look at the coaching course held today. Only eight coaches turned
up. What if the academy receives the same response?," asked Mazlan.
Paul Lissek did not hide his feelings when he said: "It is certainly
disheartening to note that only an assistant coach form Andersen Sports
Club (Eugene Lee) and the Royal Malay Regiment coach (Sjn Hashim Yusoff)
bothered to turn up from the MHL.
"The rest of the coaches from the MHL did not turn up and I was told
that some of them gave excuses, but I do not know what happened to the
Malaysia Games coaches.
"But the show (seminar) must go on and those who did not attend are the
losers, not me," said Lissek.
The coaches who turned up were Stephen van Huizen, Yahya Atan, Kon Chen
Choong (Bukit Jalil Sports School), Izwan Suhardi (Malaysia Games,
Pahang), Tai Beng Hai (National under-16 coach), Benedict Arries (Malaysia
Games, Pahang), Eugene Lee (Andersen Sports Club), S. Prakash (Bukit Jalil
Sports Schol), Jamaluddin Osman (Bukit Jalil Sports School), Sgt Hashim
Yusoff (Royal Malay Regiment), Paul Lisek.
MHF secretary S. Satgunam could not be reached for comments.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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