Pahang boys whip KL 4-0

NATIONAL Under-16 Boys' silver medallists Kuala Lumpur were whipped 4-0 by Pahang at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Monday.
  KL, who had edged Sabah 4-2 in their first match, went crashing to a hat-trick of penalty corners executed by Muhammad Idris in the 
35th, 44th and 54th minutes. The other Pahang goal was scored by Nazrey Din off a field attempt in the 18th minute.
  RESULTS: Boys' Group A: Penang 1 Malacca 3, Terengganu 2 Perlis 2, Selangor x Johor x; Group B: Kuala Lumpur 0 Pahang 4, Kedah 5 Negri Sembilan 5, Perak x Kelantan x.
   Girls' Group A: Penang 7 Johor 2, Kedah 3 Malacca 2; Group B: Pahang 1 Kuala Lumpur 4, Sabah 0 Selangor 2.
  TUESDAY: Boys' Group A: Perlis v Selangor (4pm, Pitch I), Malacca v Johor (6pm, Pitch II), Terengganu v Penang (8pm, Pitch II); Group B: Perak v Negri Sembilan (4pm, Pitch II), Kuala Lumpur v Kelantan (6pm, Pitch I), Pahang v Sabah (8pm, Pitch I).
  Girls' Group A: Perak v Penang (7.30am, Pitch I), Malacca v Johor (7.30am, Pitch II); Group B: Sabah v Pahang (9.30am, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur v Terengganu (9.30am, Pitch II).
  Note: All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Something smells rotten...

SOMETHING is very wrong with the grassroot development of hockey.
  Schools, states, clubs and 1Mas development programmes have failed to unearth even a single Sikh, Chinese or Indian to represent Malaysia in the 2016 Junior World Cup which will be held in New Delhi.
  Yes, the only good news when the April training squad of Project 2016 was released yesterday by team manager Mirnawan Nawawi was Sabah-born Maxhans Christi.
  The other 24 players were all Malay.
  And the ongoing National Under-16 tournament is no better, as even though 13 states are competing and there are a total of 234 players, there is only one Sikh boy playing for Kuala Lumpur and six Indian boys -- three from Negri Sembilan, two from Kedah and one from Perak.
  In the Girls' Under-16 where 11 states are competing, there are only four Indian girls -- two from Kedah, and one each from Pahang and Selangor.
  The Chinese are nowhere to be seen, while Sabah has 18 boys and 18 girls competing.
  Former national coach K. Dharmaraj, who is attached with the National Sports Council now, is the main scout for the Under-16 tournament where he plans to select 30 to 35 players and form Project 2020.
  This will be the start-up to Dharmaraj's personal dream of winning the Junior World Cup in 2020, after he and his charges claimed the fourth spot in the 2013 New Delhi World Cup.
  Coming back to the Project 2016 which will play at the Kuantan Junior Asia Cup in November, which is a Junior World Cup qualifier, Mirnawan said there are no excellent players of other races coming out of the current development programme.
  Mirnawan, who has played with a multi-racial team in World Cups as well as the Olympics, said he would like to see other races coming out of the woodwork, but it is too late for the next World Cup.
  "I would love to see all the races representing Malaysia like a decade ago, but at the moment, not many non Malays play hockey. Even at the ongoing Under-16 one can count the number of non-Malays with one hand.
  "My wish is that in Project 2020, we need to develop more excellent players from the other race group. Curently, from the 25 playuers in training in Project 2016, only Maxhans is the odd one out."
  Six new players were added to the Project 2016 after the conclusion of the Junior Hockey League, and the scouts could not even find one Sikh, Indian or Chinese from the 30 teams, comprising a total of 540 players, which competed in the two JHL divisions.
  Something is really wrong with the development of the sport in the country.
  Clubs like UniKL Young Guns are doing the right thing by having open training sessions every weekend where everybody is invited to join in, and even those who can hardly hold hockey sticks properly are coached with patience by former and current national players.
  But something must be very wrong at the schools as well as the 1Mas programme at the state levels, which has funding to the millions, when they can't even produce one Chinese to replace the late Chua Boon Huat.
  Baljit Singh is the last Sikh, while S. Kumar is the last Indian standing at the senior level, and going by current form, there will be none in the 2016 Junior World Cup, while 15-year-old Pavandip Singh Gurdip will most likely be the only non-Malay in the 2020 Junior World Cup as he has shown form in the ongoing National Under-16.
  Something is very wrong at the grassroot as suddenly, non-Malays are no longer interested in a sport which they used to excel in, at World Cups and Olympics.

Tengku Abdullah endorses Subahan..

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) went smoothly yesterday, and the only big news was that the secretary general will be replaced by a Chief Executive Officer.
  Elections have been set for May 13, and the delegates amicably voted minor changes to tighten up their constitution in the EOGM.
  The amended constitution followed International Hockey Federation (FIH) guidelines, and there will be two deputy presidents' -- one a woman and the other a man.
  MHC were embroiled in a constitutional crisis with the FIH when their earlier amended constitution was rejected because it was not gender friendly.
  "The EOGM went smoothly and there will be two deputy presidents' (one woman and one man) and the person which receives the highest vote will be known as the senior deputy president," said MHC outgoing president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
  Tengku Abdullah will not seek re-election on May 13: "In the earlier nomination, only Subahan (Datuk Sri Subahan Kamal) was nominated for the president's post and I believe it will be the same when nominations closed."
  When asked if Tengku Abdullah endorsed Subahan as president: "Well I endorse him as he was the only candidate earlier and the best person to replace me. However, if the delegates feel otherwise and nominate a challenger, may the ballot decide who is the best."
  The front-runner to be elected as the men's deputy is Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, while incumbent deputy president Raja Puan Sri Noora Ashikin Raja Abdullah is set to take charge of the women's section.
  On another issue, controversial national striker Faizal Saari will return to training today, after boycotting it due to unsolved bonus payments. If Faizal does show up, it will be his first day of training since he went missing right after the Singapore World League Round Two.
  "Faizal is a good player, but his destiny is in his own hands. It is what he wants in life, and nobody should force him to return because then he will not give his best. If he feels he does not wan't to represent the country any more, lets move on and concentrate on the players who show up for training," said Tengku Abdullah.  

Nat Under-16: Perak edge Sabah 3-1

PERAK beat Sabah 3-1 in Group B of the Boys' National Under-16 tournament at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil Saturday.
  Defending champions Selangor, in Group A, open their campaign against Terengganu today.
  RESULTS: Boys' Group B: Perak 3 Sabah 1, Kedah 1 Pahang 7, Negri 2 Kelantan 0.
  Girls' Group B: Negri 1 Sabah 1, Pahang 1 Terengganu 6.
  SUNDAY: Boys' Group A: Selangor v Terengganu (4pm, Picth II), Penang v Johor (4pm, Pitch II), Perlis v Malacca (8pm, Pitch II).
  Group B: Perak v Pahang (4pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur v Sabah (6pm, Picth I), Kedah v Kelantan (8pm, Pitch I).
  Girls' Group A: Kedah v Johor (7.30am, Pitch I), Perak v Malacca (7.30am, Pitch II); Group B: Selangor v Kuala Lumpur (9.30am, Pitch I), Negri Sembilan v Terengganu (9.30am, Pitch I).

Coach Dharmaraj's sacrifices recognised...

By FIH 

To date, K. Dharmaraj's top coaching moments have been with the Malaysian National Junior Men's team, when he was in charge of the team that won the 2012 Junior Asia Cup to become Asian Junior champions. 

This is only time to date that a Malaysian team has been Asian champions. Dharma went on to become national coach for the senior Malaysian national men's team but, after leaving that post last year, Dharma is looking to take the national junior team one step further in 2020, by becoming Junior World Cup winners.

Since he finished his coaching contract with the men's senior squad, Dharmaj has been working as a youth development officer, working with grassroots level hockey players and potential internationals across Malaysia.

While much of his work is general hockey coaching with youngsters, Dharma also heads a project, Target2020, which has a very clear target - preparing the national junior team in readiness for the 2020 Junior World Cup.

Dharma enhances his own coaching ability and experience by bringing in former and current internationals to help run coaching clinics across the country. Explaining his role, Dharma says: "With my prior experience in coaching grassroots and children of different age groups, I am able to recognise the requirements needed to develop and promote hockey in my country. To date, I have conducted 18 clinics throughout the different states of Malaysia. In each clinic, there are approximately 200 players, both girls and boys, ranging in age from eight to 16-years-old."

During the course of a coaching clinic, Dharma involves teachers and local coaches in the programme so that they can update and improve their coaching skills. In this way the local teachers and coaches are empowered to continue to develop hockey in the area.

While the coaching clinics introduce and promote hockey to hundreds of young Malaysians, the Target2020 programme has a far more specific ambition. While the programme is still in its early stages, Dharma says that his team of coaches and selectors will be looking to form pools of about 30 players for each age category. The over-riding qualities the players must demonstrate are "dynamism and an openness to competitiveness and progress."

Players who will be invited to attend the Target2020 training camps are talent-spotted through local and area competitions and other tournaments. Dharma says that he is hopeful of producing a high quality team for 2020 where the bulk of the players will be 21-years-old.

"Our target, via this programme, is for both the national junior men's and women's teams to win a medal at the Junior World Cup," says the energetic coach.

Many of the coaching clinics run by Dharma and his team are free for attendees, while others are funded through the National Sports Council as part of its development programme. Target2020 is an initiative funded completely by the National Sports Council.