UNDER-16: Kedah boys and girls left stranded

KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah Hockey Association are expected to be penalised by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) for an 11th-hour no-show at the ongoing National Under-16 Boys' and Girls' hockey tournament.
  Kedah boys and girls were left stranded on Friday, when the bus that was supposed to ferry them to Kuala Lumpur, never arrived.
  Under-16 Tournament Director Hafeez Yunus confirmed a new schedule, and said a report will be submitted to the MHC for further action.
  "Yes, Kedah boys and girls failed to show up and we had to redraw the fixtures. A report will be submitted to the MHC for further action. They can be penalised," said Hafeez.
  But in the end the Kedah boys and girls will be the biggest losers.
  "We had conducted trials and selected boys and girls teams for the Uder-16 and even had a one-week centralised training while jerseys and other equipment were also ready.
  "However, the sponsored bus broke down and we could not find an alternate transport because to hire a new bus for nine days would have cost us about RM8,000, which is beyound our reach. I have written to the MHC explaining what had transpired," said Kedah HA secretary B. Sandra Gesan.
  In the letter to MHC Sandra had suggested: "To raise the RM3,000 tournament grant to RM5,000, and also provide higher transport and other allowance for teams which travel more than 150kms."
  "The old allowance figure is a decade old, and with rising costs, it should be reviewed by the MHC. We had done everything but in the end, the bus broke down and we could not afford another," said Sandra.
  On the Kedah Women's Hockey Face Book, they lamented on a lost generation of Kedah players who could not enjoy the experience of playing in an important age group tournament.