Problems await Beng Hai

THIS may not be the best way to start a new year but lazy players and a support system that is not producing quality second liners mean Malaysia can forget about qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

In fact, Malaysia may also have to forgo the London Olympics two years later is the frank assessment of a former international who has handled the national team in the past.
"Two problems have combined to become a major headache. The current batch of players take home between RM3,000 to RM6,000 monthly, depending on their status.
"Money from the National Sports Council (NSC) and clubs or employers, combined with no challengers for their national team positions have led to many (of them) becoming complacent," said the former coach who declined to be identified.
But he knows what he is talking about as he has first hand experience with the players.
"So, in training, they do not give 100 per cent, as they know that they will be selected anyway, and this attitude is carried onto the pitch when they play in a tournament.
"This 'tidak apa' attitude has taken out the competitive edge in training as well as tournaments, and that is why we had to come from behind to draw 4-4 against Italy in the Japan Olympics Qualifier (last year)."
"Too much of the night life has also taken its toll on players and giving them a break can be a nightmare as they will report back unfit.
"I am not against players enjoying themselves, as it is good to de-stress, but there are a few who over-indulge and come for training looking sleepy and disinterested."
The coach said the problem is common knowledge in the hockey fraternity.
"The hockey circle knows about these problems, but all efforts to eradicate them have been futile thus far.
"I want to highlight these problems again, not to bring disrepute to anyone, but for the new MHF (Malaysian Hockey Federation) regime and whoever is appointed as the next coach to be wary abut the pitfalls."
The disparity between the seniors and juniors, according to him, was glaring in the Malaysia Hockey League.
"The seniors (Ernst & Young) won both titles this year, but were given a fight till the end by a team made up of former internationals (Sapura).
"This shows that there is not much progress in the new batch, as they should have won comfortably against players who are now quite portly and slow.
"The national juniors couldn't even match the former internationals so what hope is there?
"And this problem will only become bigger in the next few years as there is very little talent in the juniors to be drafted into the senior side, and qualifying for the London Olympics will be very difficult."
Tai Beng Hai, who assumes the caretaker coach position today, probably knows all this but imagine the shock that, when MHF hires him, awaits the foreign coach.

HAPPY NEW YEAR -- 2009!

TOP OF THE WORLD....
FROM THE LOCAL CIRCUS....
MASSIVE HANGOVER...
DON'T DRINK IF YOU ARE DRIVING HOME, AND HOPEFULLY WE END UP WITH THE BUNCH ABOVE, AND NOT UNDER SOME CHAIR OR TABLE...

Dr Balbir ready to make changes

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) newly-appointed coaching chairman Dr Balbir Singh is no stranger to the sport, and will be coming in with some sound plans to widen, and strengthen the coaching structure in the country.
He will hold his first meting on Jan 10, where his ideas will be discussed, and the viable ones put to work immediately.
The MHF council had first appointed Datuk Poon Fook Loke as the coaching chairman, but he declined because of work commitment.
“I have some ideas on how to improve the the coaching structure in the country, and also have a bigger pool of coaches at state level,” said De Balbir.
And among the changes is to require all coaches to keep a record of their players.
“We need a record of all our players, at the junior, senior and club levels so that a we know what we have in hand. The record will encompass physical, technical, tactical and psychological level of each player.
“With the record, we can then have a better plan and work on individual weakness to strengthen the entire team,” said Dr Balbir.
There was an attempt by the former MHF president, Tan Sri Anwar Mohd Nor, to have a report card for each national player, but somehow, it never took off.
“The data is easy to collect, with help from NSI (National Sports Institute), and once we have an electronic-based file system, working to improve the players performance will become easier.”
As for coaches, former coach Tai Beng Hai will officially start his duties on tomorrow, after Sarjit Singh’s contract expires today.
Beng Hai, who resigned early this year and went on to coach the national women’s team, has been recalled as an interim coach while the MHF hunt for a foreign coach.
“More coaching courses will be held because we need to strengthen the base at the state level. And once this is done, the coaches can start a concerted effort to nurture a bigger pool of players who have strong basics.
“More details will be revealed after my first meeting, but sufficient to say that, with help from states, we can start producing quality coaches as many ex-internationals have shown interest to help the sport.”

Old La Sallians call for trials

OLD La Sallains Association of Klang (OLAK) hope to re-live their glory years, as they will be playing in their 15th Junior Hockey League (JHL) on Feb 6 with strong sponsorship backing.
OLAK are the only JHL team which has not missed a single season since it was incepted in 1995.
And they will be calling for and Open trial on Jan 3 and 4 at the Pandamaran Stadium in Klang.
OLAK have the distinction of winning the League title in 1997, 1998 and 1999 while their Overall title glory was achieved in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
“We have had some lean years after 2000, but we are working to make a greater impact this season. We have managed to secure strong sponsors, and hopefully have a good team after the selections are conducted,” said OLAK assistant team manager Philip Andrew de Silva.
Current national players Amin Rahim, Madzli Ikmar and national Juniors trainee Wong Khee Hon are some of OLAK’s products.
“We have some players who competed in the Selangor Under-18 with us, and are expecting players from Tereng ganu, Perak and Penang to attend our trials.”
Last season, OLAK finished fifth in Division One of the JHL, and for more information on the trials, call Philip at 019- 6491927 or 016-3037971.

New Year Bang for Juniors

THE NEW year will start with a bang for the National Juniors, as they will be involved in a Four-Nation tussle in the Australian Youth Olympics Festival Jan 14-18 in Sydney.
And they are expected to be tested to the limit because Junior World Cup runners-up Australia, India and Great Britain will also be using it to test their youth for the Junior World Cup, which Malaysia and Singapore will co-host on June 7-21, and will involve 20 teams playing in two groups.
The juniors, who took part in the Malaysia Hockey League, were far from impressive, and there is still much work to be done before one can call them an outfit.
Realising this, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) have planned for a series of team-building sessions, and military training is also on the cards.
“The juniors will be involved in team-building sessions because right now, we (MHF) notice that they are still a loose outfit. Hopefully, once they undergo motivation sessions and military-style training, their understanding will be much better,” said MHF secretary Hashim Yusoff.
Fitness is still a problem, and chief coach K. Rajan will be helped by personal from the National Sports Institute (NSI) in this area.
“Rajan will receive help from NSI fitness trainers to get the boys in shape, and we also plan to hold a four-nation in March, at the tournament venue as a final test for both the teams and logistics as well as the artificial pitch in Johor,” said Hashim.
Hashim also said a joint meeting with Singapore will be held on Jan 10, where a clearer picture will emerge on what has been done, and what needs to be done to avoid hiccups in the tournament.
“The management committee has endorsed Tan Sri Anwar Mohd Nor (former MHF president) as the tournament chair man, and after January 10, we will finalise more details.:
The teams which have qualified for the World Cup are defending champions Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, India, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, England, Poland, Russia, Chile, US and New Zealand.
And the juniors will be involved in a few friendlies with a South Korean University side, after which they will head to Europe to play Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.