Father-Son carnival soon

10/01/2003

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) coaching committee will be
organising the inaugural Father-Son Hockey Carnival on Feb 15-16 at the
Royal Selagor Club, Bukit Kiara grounds.
The idea was mooted by the committee, headed by Datuk R. Yogeswaran, to
get parents involved in a big way at grassroots level.
"The idea is to get parents involved in hockey so that Malaysia will
have a bigger pool of players to select from in the future. Once we get
the full support of parents, it will become easier to start developing
hockey at grassroots," said coaching committee secretary Dr Balbir Singh.
To take part in the carnival, a team needs to have three `sons' and two
`fathers'.
"The inaugural carnival is aimed to not only teach the basics, but also
let the teams enjoy a game of hockey. That is why the composition of the
team was set at two fathers and three sons.
"There must also be a healthy balance of racial mix, because we also
want hockey to play the role of racial assimilator.
"The duration of the match will be six minutes each half, and will be
played on a grass pitch measuring 20 metres by six metres."
The carnival is open to players in the age group of 8-12, and for
starters, it will concentrate on teams in the Klang Valley.
"The programme is designed based on the Australian model, where parents
play a big role in teaching their children the right basics before they
pick up `bad hockey habits' which will hamper development for the rest of
their lives.
"Once parents get involved, they can then play a more active role in
developing grassroots hockey at their children's schools," said Dr Balbir.
The closing date for registration is Jan 21, and forms can be obtained
from Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association secretary V. Rajamanickam and
Selangor Hockey Association secretary S. Tamilselvam.
For details, call Dr Balbir at 012-2378031.
(END)