Dr Balbir ready to make changes

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) newly-appointed coaching chairman Dr Balbir Singh is no stranger to the sport, and will be coming in with some sound plans to widen, and strengthen the coaching structure in the country.
He will hold his first meting on Jan 10, where his ideas will be discussed, and the viable ones put to work immediately.
The MHF council had first appointed Datuk Poon Fook Loke as the coaching chairman, but he declined because of work commitment.
“I have some ideas on how to improve the the coaching structure in the country, and also have a bigger pool of coaches at state level,” said De Balbir.
And among the changes is to require all coaches to keep a record of their players.
“We need a record of all our players, at the junior, senior and club levels so that a we know what we have in hand. The record will encompass physical, technical, tactical and psychological level of each player.
“With the record, we can then have a better plan and work on individual weakness to strengthen the entire team,” said Dr Balbir.
There was an attempt by the former MHF president, Tan Sri Anwar Mohd Nor, to have a report card for each national player, but somehow, it never took off.
“The data is easy to collect, with help from NSI (National Sports Institute), and once we have an electronic-based file system, working to improve the players performance will become easier.”
As for coaches, former coach Tai Beng Hai will officially start his duties on tomorrow, after Sarjit Singh’s contract expires today.
Beng Hai, who resigned early this year and went on to coach the national women’s team, has been recalled as an interim coach while the MHF hunt for a foreign coach.
“More coaching courses will be held because we need to strengthen the base at the state level. And once this is done, the coaches can start a concerted effort to nurture a bigger pool of players who have strong basics.
“More details will be revealed after my first meeting, but sufficient to say that, with help from states, we can start producing quality coaches as many ex-internationals have shown interest to help the sport.”