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THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) should, by now, know that almost year-long centralised training has not produced any results at the international level.
In fact, the pampering of players has led to Malaysia free- falling to 16th in the world.
“There are different views on this matter, and it has been discussed many times, but personally, I feel the Malaysian players are still not ready for de-centralised training,” said National coach Tai Beng Hai.
The main reason, according to Beng Hai, in keeping the players in camp for long periods is fitness.
“We have tried giving individual players training pro grammes when there is a long break. But they return with extra kilos, and it only shows that they do not follow the fitness regime when away from camp.
“It will defeat the purpose if I have to conduct fitness training all over again to prepare for a tournament like, say, the World Cup qualifier in November,” said Beng Hai.
The evidence of a huge gap among European teams and Malaysia came to light again when Champions Challenge II winners Poland were hammered 9-0 by Netherlands and 3-0 by Spain in the ongoing EuroNationas Championships which is also a qualifier for the New Delhi World Cup, and offers four tickets to semi-finalists.
And Down Under, an e-mail from former Malaysian coach Paul Lissek advised Malaysia to do away with centralised training.
Lissek, a consultant with Australia now said: “In Australia players like Brent Livermore (pic) can still play in the national team despite not training with them but working far from Perth near Brisbane and staying with his family.
“Their main advantage is that players are very liberal and independent, which means they have a lot of self-discipline. The Australian players come for individual training-sessions and follow their different plan.
“They train with different coaches and they also come for individual video-sessions, and sit with a coach to discuss. The methodical principal ‘players as partners’ not ‘players as schoolboys’ makes the difference.
“Sometimes players work in groups on their particular issues and solve it themselves,” said Lissek.
Beng Hai feels the time is not right yet for decentralised training: “Malaysian players are not ready for de-centralised training as they do not have the discipline to work on their own when given a break.
“However, there is a possibility that the de-centralised system could be implemented in the near future,” said Beng Hai.
Centralised training has produced mediocre players, while decentralised training has produced Olympic champions, the MHF should have another look at their training programme for next year.
NATIONAL hockey coach Tai Beng Hai is not the least worried that a few players are contemplating quitting the national team before the World Cup Qualifier in November.
In fact, the coach feels that if players want to call it a day, they should just inform the management (Malaysian Hockey Federation) and he will not hold a grudge against them.
“I have not received any official notification from any player or players who want to leave the team. However, if any player(s) are finding it difficult to juggle their commitments and hockey right now, they should just come out and inform the MHF.
“It is never easy being a sportsman representing the country, as one will need to sacrifice much. Any nobody should hold a grudge against players who want to call it a day and concentrate on their career,” said Beng Hai.
The national players recently returned from a playing Tour of Australia and New Zealand, and will be heading to China next month.
Beng Hai had left behind a few senior players to try out young blood, and word is that there are some who want to call it a day to concentrate on their new venture into business.
“We need to know early so that we can plan ahead for the Qualifier. The FIH will inform us later where we will be playing, but it does not matter, as winning a gold medal in any of the three venues will be a challenging task.”
Argentina, New Zealand (if the Kiwis lose to Australia in the Oceania Cup) and France are the three Qualifier venues, and Malaysia will only know after the Oceania Cup and the EuroHockey tournament where they will be playing.
“In the fasting month, I will hold training after breaking fast, and fitness will be stressed from now.
“And with the China trip almost confirmed, it will give me one last avenue to try out players, and fine tune the technical aspect for the qualifier.”
Teams who have already qualified for the New Delhi World Cup are hosts India, Pan American champions Canada, Asia Cup winners South Korea and Africa Cup champions South Africa.
The other qualifiers will come from the winner of the Oceania Cup, and semi-finalists of the EuroHockey Nations Championship.
The final vacancies will be filled up by gold medallists in the three Qualifiers, one of which Malaysia will be playing in.
By By BRENDON EGANSTICK TO IT: The Samoan men's hockey team get some practise in at Turnbull Thomson Park ahead of the Oceania Cup tournament in Invercargill, starting on Tuesday.ROBYN EDIE When New Zealand hockey players turn up for an international match, they usually have four or five sticks in their gear bag.
That luxury does not exist for the Samoan national hockey team, though.
Samoa arrived for their first practice on the Turnbull Thomson Park turf in Invercargill earlier this week with most players not even owning their own stick. They will be all good to go for next week's Oceania Cup tournament in the city, however, with the Oceania Hockey Federation supplying several sticks and some also being donated from the recent Champions Trophy tournament in Australia.
Oceania Hockey development manager Gill Gemming, who is with the team for the tournament, said it was the first time many players in the side had used a stick the correct size.
"It's something New Zealand players take for granted," Gemming said.
"They turned up and were sharing them around ... The sticks they have been using are designed for kids. They were only up to their thighs. It has been an issue. It's probably the first time they've held the right size stick in their hand until now."
The Samoans have also had clothing provided by Hockey New Zealand and Hockey Australia for the tournament.
Samoa will be on a hiding to nothing at next week's tournament. The women's side has not competed in the Oceania Cup for 25 years, while the men have never played in a Pacific Cup, let alone an Oceania Cup.
On Wednesday, the men's and women's sides played Gore High School in their first ever match on a water-based turf at the Turnbull Thomson Park facilities. The enormity of their challenge next week was highlighted with the women losing 4-0 to Gore High and the men drawing their match 2-2.
Some detractors will argue that losing by a cricket score to New Zealand and Australia will not do the Samoans any good, but Gemming disagreed.
"They are aware they are underdogs. They're learning from every match they play here. It is always a difficulty if you get taken to the cleaners, but the support network around them is very good...
"At the last Oceania Cup, PNG (Papua New Guinea) were in a similar position. Samoa has had a few more build games. The Samoan men are fitter and more athletic. They're really looking forward to their first game."
The Samoan sides will be using the Oceania Cup as a leadup to the Pacific Cup tournament in Fiji in December. Gemming said gaining experience against Australia and New Zealand who are both ranked in the top 10 in the world would be invaluable for the Samoan players.
At home, Samoan hockey is taking steps to take hockey into schools and they also plan to possibly field under-19 sides at Pacific tournaments in the future. Gemming believed this would help the game in Samoa.
"Samoa have a very proactive administration. They've done a lot in the last 12 months with getting youth started. It will be a base to build on ... With time they will hopefully build up a base of players, so they have a wider group to call on."
She hoped that Fiji and Papua New Guinea would compete at the next Oceania Cup in 2011 to allow the smaller nations in the Pacific to test themselves against each other and also gain valuable top-level exposure against Australia and New Zealand.
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Faizal Shaari is a strong bet to don national colours when Malaysia play in the World Cup Qualifiers at the end of the year.
The Junior World Cup player, who scored eight goals in Johor Baru, has proven to be an asset in the senior ranks as well after he scored against Australia and New Zealand in the recent friendlies.
Team manager George Koshy feels he is almost ready to play among the big boys: “Faizal scored a few goals in the Australia and New Zealand series, and now he is in con tention to represent Malaysia in the qualifier.” But first, he will be tested again when Malaysia head to China for friendly against the hosts and Australia A from Sept 28- Aug 8.
“We have arranged for six friendlies against the Australia A and China sides at the end of September, and if Faizal still keeps his form, he will be given a chance in the Qualifier,” said George.
The International Hoc key Federation (FIH) have yet to confirm teams for the three qualifiers which will be held in New Zealand, Argentina and France.
“We will only know who we will be playing against, and the venue after the European championships and also the Oceania Cup.
“As such, we need to prepare by playing various teams and be ready to make an attempt to qualify for the New Delhi World Cup next year.”
Teams who have already qualified for the World Cup are hosts India, Pan American champions Canada, Asia Cup winners South Korea and Africa Cup champions South Africa.
The other qualifiers will come from the winner of the Oceania Cup, and semi-finalists of the EuroHockey Nations Championship.
The final vacancies will be filled up by gold medallists in the three Qualifiers which Malaysia will be playing in.
THE 47th edition of the Razak Cup would have been a total flop, if not for the excitement provided by the Project 2013 boys.
The fact that under-18 boys went all the way to the final in Division One, should be a good indicator for the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) to gauge development among their affiliates.
The Razak Cup is the second oldest hockey tournament, behind the Gurdwara Cup which was held for the 58th uninterrupted time recently, but states showed total dis respect to it by fielding players who were older than the tournament itself.
Kuala Lumpur, the 2008 champions, also relied on many players who should have given way to younger legs, and their folly saw then finishing third.
A check on the team lists showed that there were 41 players who were in the range of 30-40 years old, and three players in the 40-50 age group.
And it is needless to say that states which relied on players who should be playing in veterans’ tournaments found out that former greats are no longer so great.
“When I used to play in the Razak Cup, it was The chance for a player to break into the national team and we had to give our best in every match because selectors were watching.
“Right after the prize presentation, the names of those who have been selected for national training was read out, and that was how important a development ground it was,” said a former national player who declined to be named.
That is why it would be worthless to write about the action in Division Two, and Division One would also have been a wasted exercise is not for the five 16-year-olds, seven 17- year-olds and six 18-year-olds in the Project squad.
“Before the tournament started, I thought that even if my boys win two matches it would be an achievement. But they went all the way to the final, and this is a good indication that we have selected promising players to be trained for the 2013 Junior World Cup,” said Project coach K. Dharmaraj.
And the most important lesson for the MHF to learn from mistakes made in the last decade is to discard the full-time training which has failed to produce any results.
Lets learn from the semi-finalists of the recent Junior World Cup Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. Their players were nurtured via playing in domestic tournaments rather than keeping them for long periods in national camps.
The Razak Cup failed to unearth any new talent, but it certainly showed that the MHF did at least one thing right -- they allowed the Project to play in Division One.
And it could just be the silver lining for Malaysia to perform better in the next junior world cup.
THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) should, by now, know that almost year-long centralised training has not produced any results at the international level.
