Lack of fresh talent quite telling

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I WATCHED the recently concluded Razak Cup hockey inter-state tournament in Malacca, the oldest premier national hockey competition.
As expected, Kuala Lumpur (KL), with so many national players at its disposal, won again. Negri Sembilan won the Division Two championships.
The tournament was well organised by Malacca but unfortunately, the home team was last in Division One.
My congratulations to Pahang and Terengganu (and Perlis in Division Two) for playing good, exciting hockey and qualifying for the semi-finals. The experienced teams, like KL and Perak, were a letdown when it came to sportsmanship and discipline.
My daughter commented: "Why did the national players keep protesting to the referee each time something happened?"
As a qualified referee and player, I could sense that the players were "playing" with the referees to gain advantage. This is an unacceptable culture.
I was also disappointed that the news on the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) website was not updated and I had to rely on other blogs.
What about the contribution of Sabah and Sarawak to this tournament? More can be done by MHF to promote the game there. Sabah and Sarawak have produced talented sportsmen, but not in hockey. Why?
I dread to think of the future of Malaysian hockey. The same players are in every tournament, which says that our development efforts are not producing the right players.
The MHF must accept its weaknesses and move forward by engaging with the media and dynamic stakeholders. It should emulate structures of developed hockey nations like Australia, Germany and Holland to ensure collective responsibilities are placed on all stakeholders -- with measurements of performance and progress. This is especially so for state associations.
The MHF needs to be more dynamic, resourceful and transparent.

HARBAN SINGH
Johor Baru,
JOHOR