Turfs for TBSS and SMK Putri

24/08/2004

NEGRI Sembilan will host the Malaysia Games next year and two schools in
the State are already reaping the benefits.
The Seremban Municipal Council (SMC) has decided to re-turf the pitches
at the Seremban II Hockey Stadium and the old artificial turf will be sent
to SMK Puteri in Seremban and Tunku Besar Secondary School (TBSS) in
Tampin.
Negri Sembilan HA secretary Anthony Dass said the turf will be laid once
the schools prepare their pitches.
"The SMC has agreed to send the old turf (which are still in very good
condition) to SMK Puteri and TBSS. Once the schools have their pitches
ready they will get the turf," said Dass.
Tampin District HA, the most active affiliate of the Negri Sembilan HA,
requested for the turf to revive the game in what was once the bastion of
hockey in Negri.
"We are very grateful to the Menteri Besar Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad,
deputy president of the NSHA Datuk Abdullah Sani, Negri State Education
Department, the Seremban Municipal Council and the principal of the Tunku
Besar Secondary School, without whose help, this dream could not have been
realised," said Tampin District HA president Datuk Dr R.L. Annandan.
TBSS used to produce national players with the most famous ones being N.
Palanisamy and Dr Bryan Jayhan Siva. The most recent contribution from the
school is national goalkeeper S. Kumar.
But after the retirement of hockey master V. Sivapathasundram, hockey
took a backseat at the school and Datuk Taha of Gemencheh, under Mohamed
Roslan, started producing national players.
Suhaimi Ibrahim, Nor Azlan Rahim and Fairuz Affendy have become
household names in sleepy Gemencheh.
Hockey is almost non-existent at two former great schools in Seremban
who were synonymous with producing great hockey players - King George V
and St Paul's Institution, and the pitch in Tampin is a timely injection.
But there remains a problem: TBSS does not have a qualified hockey coach
presently. "We have requested a hockey coach from the Negri Education
Department with the help of Abdullah Sani, and hopefully, he will arrive
before the pitch is laid at the school," said Annandan.
(END)