MHF making good about-turn

18/01/2003

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) sub-committees have had numerous
meetings after their Biennial General Meeting last year, and the feedback
has been good.
For a start, MHF have yet to invoke their new clause and remove any
committee members for not attending meetings - as promised by MHF deputy
president Tan Sri P. Alagendra after the elections last year.
Before the MHF elections, all their sub-committees were not functioning
- resulting in the sport taking a turn for the worse at the grassroots
level.
"After the elections, high standards were set for the sub-committes and
I am happy to note that things have started moving in the right direction.
The chairmen and committee members have come out with various fresh ideas,
and some that were forgotten over the years, to revive grassroots hockey,"
said MHF secretary S. Satgunam.
The Schools Committee, headed by Datuk Jalil Abdul Majid, has started
looking into the schools structure and included the MSSM hockey tournament
into the MHF calendar.
"The Under-12 MSSM tournament has been put back on the priority list
because we need to identify potential players for the Hockey Academy that
is still at its blueprint stage."
Hockey at Primary Schools was at a bad stage of neglect, but that is set
to change as the Schools Committee has made suggestions that scouts be
sent for the Under-12 matches and also, umpires be groomed at the
Secondary Schools level.
"This was the practice some years back, but was forgotten. Now the
various sub-committees are working together to identify talent at the
Primary School level," said Satgunam.
The MSSM tournament in May in Kuantan, will be the selection ground for
the Hockey Academy, the blueprint of whch is being prepared by the
Technical and Development Committee headed by MHf vice-president Dr S.S
Cheema.
"Most of the suggestions and recommendations will be debated and
endorsed by the MHF council on Feb 15," said Satgunam.
The Academy, proposed to be set up at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur, is expected to take in its first batch of students at the
end of the year. Initially, only Form One students will be enrolled, but
in a fdew years time, the academy will have under-13 to under-18 players.
The selected ones will be enrolled in schools around the stadium and
provided with hockey guidance.
"MHF will need the help of the Education Ministry, Sports Ministry and
the National Sports Council to ge most of our plans going, and meetings
will be held soon with the relevent parties to chart the future," said
Satgunam.
The newly-formed Marketing Committee, headed by Raja Datuk Seri Aman,
will meet for the first time on Jan 21 to make the domestic tournaments
self-sufficient.
"The Junior Hockey League, Malaysia Hockey League and other domestic
tournaments are taking a big bite out of the MHF coffers. The Marketing
Committee will be meeting soon to work out a plan to rope in sponsors for
the domestic tournaments," said Satgunam.
The Coaching Committee, headed by Datuk R. Yogeswaran, will start their
programme with a Father-And-Son Hockey Carnival next month at the Royal
Selangor Club in Bukit Kiara, before embarking on a nationwide programme
to develop young coaches.
At present, five coaches have been roped in by the MHF to oversee junior
and senior training after Stephen van Huizen's contract expired on Dec 31.
Sarjit singh, Arul Selvaraj, Lim Chiow Chuan, Tai Beng Hai and Nor
Saiful Zaini were selected for the attachment programme.
"The idea is to select the best coach for the national side while the
rest could be attached with the juniors and move up the ranks," said
Satgunam.
(END)