Shamala: Lets re-organise development..

MALAYSIA have been relying on a 'rojak' system to develop hockey for the last three decades, but things are about to change after the third week of January.
  Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) development chairman S. Shamala (pic) will hold a workshop themed 'National Hockey Development Plan' which will finally encompass all the share holders to work towards one system with fixed goals.
  Shamala said the objective of the workshop is: "We have many development programs in the country which are being run independently with some success, however there needs to be more coordination between all these programs to ensure that we maximize our respective efforts as opposed to having many overlapping programs."
  She mentioned clubs like UniKL, Kelab Aman's Happy Hockey and development by Ipoh Lads which are now independent, and need to be coachd as well as strengthened to bring our better results.
  "Right now clubs, schools, 1Mas, sports schools and Thunderbolts programmes are being run around the country and many of them overlap each other and there need to be a more concerted effort to stream-line them.
  "There must be one system, one goal and no overlapping of development programmes," said Shamala.
  And with the National Sports Institute (NSI), National Sports Council (NSC), Education Ministry and MHC speaking at the workshop, Shamala's committee will compile the data and feedback to formulate a National Hockey Development Plan.
  "After each agency (stakeholder) present their complete structure, we will analyse them to derive a complete documentation on a development program. Upon the completion of these two steps, we will derive the National Hockey Development Plan."
  The Development at All Tiers will be presented by Technical Director Terry Walsh.
  The now defunct Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) had held a similar workshop and came out with many plans after the 1998 Commonwealth Games, but there was no implementation and monitoring done and it remained as paperwork collecting dust in somebody's cabinet.
  But Shamala is re-igniting the fire, and hopefully there will be follow ups and the National Hockey Development Plan will see Malaysia in a better position a decade from today.

Sabah make JHL return

THIRTY teams registered for the Junior Hockey League, with Sabah making a come-back, when entries closed yesterday.
  last season also saw 30 teams in two divisions, with SSTMI Thunderbolts nailing their fourth straight double and are expected to be the dominating team in Division One again.
  The JHL is expected to start on Jan 15, and it will remain as an under-19 affair even though calls were made to turn it into an under-21 league.
  "We received 30 entries and its a positive sign which shows there is still massive interest among schools and clubs for the 21st edition," said Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) CEO K. Logan Raj.
  But there were no foreign entries even though Asian and Asean countries were invited.
  "No, we did not receive any foreign entries and only Sabah are from across the ocean," said Logan.
  On the proposed girls JHL: "We are in the midst of preparing for that and most likely we will be calling for entries before the end of January," said Logan.
  Women's hockey is set to receive a big boost next year as the Competitions Committee are looking to revive the RNA Cup and introduce two more for the ladies.
  "We plan to hold the RNA Cup next year (same as the men's Razak Cup) and also invite states to organise two more women's tournaments on the same line as the men's Azlan Shah Cup and the boys' Sultan of Johor Cup," said competitions committee chairman George Koshy.
  Koshy also plans to re-introduce the Tun Hussein Onn Cup, last held in 1986, with foreign clubs invited. The Trophy is believed to be in a cabinet in New Delhi.