Tuesday, October 27, 2015

MHC: We love our women, too

HOCKEY LETTER

To all hockey enthusiasts, fans and members of the distinguished hockey community,
  We have just concluded Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) and Despite several setbacks and challenges, the general response received was positive.
  In spite of the extremely short preparatory period, the 
Competitions Committee along with hockey's stakeholders and 
administrators have delivered a truly exciting and well-received 
tournament. For this we congratulate everyone.
  The MHL has unearthed several talents. Two of which are 
Kirendeep Kaur - a 12-year-old girl who scored two goals in the League and J. Priyangga, a 17-year-old goalkeeper which we nominated as the Best Goalkeeper of the women's MHL.
  The coaching setup is well aware of these players and will 
feature them in our development and elite programmes. We advocate talent identification and will do our utmost to present the best possible avenue for any player to showcase their ability.
  One such case is having Kavin Kartik - a player who is not in the official men's senior training squad list - attend and undergo the ongoing training programme.
  This is merely to see if he has the required ability, tenacity and mindset to one day don the national colours.   Just like how we provide everyone with the desire and required skill level a chance at one day playing for the country, we plead for you to give us the same in matters concerning the governance of hockey.
  This is a stepping stone for the development of hockey. Come 
mid-November 2015, we will be in our 6th month of administration. We believe we are headed in the right direction. Our sponsors and stakeholders are confident that our approach, although not necessarily popular, is accurate.
  We are single-minded in our pursuit for progress. However, our focus is not entirely on Men's hockey. Our Blue Print, recently launched at the National Sports Council and witnessed by all key stakeholders and numerous representatives from the media, indicates our desire to raise the profile of the game, both for men's and women's hockey. We treat everyone equally.
   Our recent MOU with Hockey Australia is also centered around the 
development of women's hockey. Australia, in my many conversations with their extremely capable CEO, Cam Vale, is as confident as we are that our women players can one day become world beaters. Hence, the equal emphasis for exposure and development to both genders.
  In our blue print, we have stipulated the key goals for our women's and men's team at every perceivable milestone. The targets/goals as below:

1 2016 - Junior World Cup, India (Top 8 Finish) - Men
2 2017 - To qualify for the 2018 World Cup - Men and Women
3 2018 - India World Cup (Top 10 Finish) - Men
- Asian Games (Podium Finish) - Men
- Asian Games (Semi-finalists) - Women
4 2019 - To qualify for Tokyo Olympics - Men
- To qualify for World League Round 3 - Women
- To qualify for 2020 JWC - Men
- 2019 Junior Asia Cup (Semi-finalists) - Women
5 2020 - Tokyo Olympics (Top 8 Finish) - Men
- Men's Ranking - Top 10
- Women's Ranking - Top 16
- Junior Men to finish Top 6 in JWC

  Specific to Women's hockey, MHC Technical Director Terry Walsh is working closely with head coach Nasihin Nubli, to develop a long-term training programme which will look at improving key areas that require urgent attention. 
  These specific areas include physiological development, tactical 
awareness and skill acquisition. The programme is designed to 
accommodate key requirements that will form the foundation of our impending progress.
  We are already in talks with Hockey Australia and several other key hockey nations to amalgamate our calendars and 2016 will see our programmes kick-off with the required structure and purpose.   Sustainable plans must be implemented to ensure desired results are obtained.
  We will neither stand behind nor support any short term plan with unclear goals. We will also not place goals which are clearly unattainable. Our key focus is sustainable growth and progress.
  MHC is committed in ensuring that hockey in its entirety will develop. 
  Our way may not provide the desired results instantaneously, but with positive support coming from all stakeholders, we will get there.
  We thank you once again for all your support, critical or otherwise. 
Only through your passion and belief, will we one day return amongst the upper echelon of world hockey.


K. Logan Raj
CEO
MHC