Under-18 league in all states

UNLUCKY in the first round but miserable failures thereafter was Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah's summary of Malaysia in the Junior World Cup.

The Juniors finished 12th in the 20-team competition and Tengku Abdullah admitted that this proves the structure in the states and schools has failed.
The MHF management committee, which Tengku Abdullah chaired yesterday, took the first steps towards checking Malaysia's slide by making it compulsory for all states to have an Under-18 league and to work with the Education Ministry to produce a world class junior team for the 2013 Junior World Cup.
"First of all, I would like to say that we failed to reach our target of reaching the medal rounds purely on luck as we lost out to Spain on goal difference," said Tengku Abdullah.
"But after that, we failed to finish ninth and I take that as a setback.
"These were the best players we have, and if they failed, it means the state and school structure has failed. I am not saying that the states' structure has collapsed, but it needs strengthening."
The management committee will present the Under-18 league proposal at the council meeting next month.
"After the council endorses the proposal to have an Under-18 league in every state, we will start work immediately. Hopefully, all states will run the league simultaneously by this year.
"If each state can have six teams, and 10 states hold the league, we will at least have another 1,200-odd players to bank on when conducting selections."
The MHF will also invite the Education Ministry to sit with it and plan for a schools league.
"We need to strengthen basics at the school level, because to achieve our target of breaking into the top 10 bracket in the senior level, we need more quality youth."
For a start, MHF will include two Junior World Cup players in the national squad for the Champions Challenge II on July 6-12 in Ireland.
Malaysia will play against Austria, France and Russia while the other group has Ireland, Chile, Poland, and Japan.
Faizal Shaari, 18, who scored eight goals in the Junior World Cup, and midfielder Marhan Jalil, 19, will play in Ireland.