Right approach can do 'em good

13/05/2003

THE MHF-Milo-Admiral-NSC Junior Hockey League ended on Sunday with new
hope for Malaysian hockey.
There was keen competition among the 22 teams at the start of the
tournament and when the final whistle was blown on Sunday with Tenaga
Nasional emerging champions, 11 had shown they had the quality while close
to 40 players can be groomed into better players.
However, Malaysian hockey can do with an improved racial balance.
Out of 434 players who had competed in JHL this season, there were only
four Chinese boys - one each from Old La Sallians Association of Klang
(Olak), Tenaga Nasional, Perak Malays and Synergy Hockey Club.
All four, however, have a long way to go before they can even convince
national selectors of a chance to play at higher level.
This is one area the Malaysian Hockey Federation have to address fast
with the help of the Education Ministry.
The JHL also showed that ill-tempered players can be turned into gems
with the right approach as is the case with Tenaga's S. Selvaraju.
Selvaraju was in a hopeless situation after being flashed the red card
for throwing his hockey stick at the technical desk while playing for
Malaysia Sports School last season.
However, he was given a second chance when national selectors included
him for the January International Four-Nation at Bukit Jalil. But the
coaches were in a dilemma as they did not know how to handle his on-field
tantrums.
He was branded by some as a talented player but with no future in
hockey.
But when he came under the wings of Tenaga coach K. Rajan, his fortune
took a turn for the better. He helped Tenaga reach the final by scoring 10
goals and in the process became the joint top-scorer in Division One and
was named the Most Promising Player of the JHL.
"Before signing him up, I told him that if the situation becomes bad and
he could no longer control his temper, just raise his hand and I will rest
him for a few minutes," said Rajan.
It worked wonders as the ill-tempered youth turned into a gem-of-a-
player. In the initial JHL matches, Selvaraju could be seen walking
towards the bench asking to be substituted at regular intervals, but in
later stages, he kept his temper in check and never protested when he
received rough treatment on the pitch.
There is a lesson to be learnt here for national coaches who simply
wrote him off without bringing out his best. The only official who had
fought for Selvaraju was MHF Special Projects manager Poon Fook Loke.
Rajan has been with the Tenaga juniors for four seasons and guided them
to become the League champions in 2000 and 2001, and on Sunday, the
overall title.
"The jinx has been broken (as they have always fumbled in the knock-out
stages) and today (on Sunday), we took the first step towards many more
years of glory," said Rajan.
While Tenaga and Malaysia SS have the financial means to rope in the
best players in the country, Anderson Xybase are the poor cousins who
survived the JHL on true grit.
Anderson School coach Mokhtar Baharudin deserves recognition from the
National Sports Council and MHF for his commitment to the game.
Each Anderson player's daily food allowance at the school hostel costs a
pittance - RM4.50 while the budget for those at Malaysia SS RM20.
"We are a poor school when it comes to money, but my players make it up
by giving their best when on the hockey pitch," said Mokhtar, who is also
the warden at the school hostel.
"I'll need to field another team in the JHL next season so that there is
is a continuity of players in our programme. I have more than enough
players to make up two teams but money seems a big problem. I will try my
best to source for more money and place a team in Division Two next
season," said Mokhtar.
From the current batch, only one player will be overaged next season as
Anderson Xybase gambled with a majority of 16-year-olds and it paid off
handsomely.
(END)