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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.
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.
On the recently named coaching set-up, MHC clarified that only the top coaches can't handle clubs from next year onwards, while the other coaches named by the MHC on Saturday can still coach in the JHL and MHL.
To avoid conflict of interest, the MHC have barred seven coaches who have been appointed for top level coaching to handle clubs while the rest can still be hired by JHL and MHL clubs.
The seven are Tai Beng Hai, Stephen van Huizen, Lim Chiow Chuan, Wallace Tan, K. Dharmaraj, K. Gobinathan, Lailin Abu Hassan.
THE Junior Hockey League (JHL) entries close Monday, and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) are keeping their fingers crossed for foreign entries to make their debut.
MHC sent out JHL invitations to Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea to make the league much more competitive and a bigger crowd puller.
Even if one country takes up the offer, it would be a new milestone for the JHL which was incepted in 1995.
And while the Under-19 boys have been enjoying their moment under the spotlight for 20 years, the girls will finally get a chance to compete in their own JHL.
MHC are ready to host the girls JHL next year.
"We have invited neighbouring countries to play in the JHL and hopefully some of them reply in the positive. This move is to make the junior tournament more competitive and also bring back the crowd to stadiums," said MHC competitions committee chairman George Koshy.
Koshy, who is also the MHC deputy president, said after the boys entries close they they will call for the girls entries.
"We will call for the girls JHL entry soon, and even though we do not expect many teams to compete in the first season, its a start in the right direction to develop women," said Koshy.
The men are ranked 13th in the world while women are a close 20th.
"we have yet to decide on the JHL format because we need to wait for entries to close and see if any foreign teams register. If there are foreign teams, we need to have a different format so that it is not too long and taxing," said George.
THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) are on full throttle to make amends on two major disappointments, by formulating a comprehensive programme to take Malaysia back into the international arena.
Missing out on the Olympics and Junior World Cup by a hair's margin, the MHC is ready to rise from ashes by naming a flurry of coaches to helm the men's and women's as well as development coaches.
"We have placed the disappointments of sitting out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the Junior World Cup at the back of our minds and will be looking forward positively to make sure we are not in the same boat again," said MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal.
The list of coaches were drawn out by the Coaching Committee chaired by Datuk Ow Soon Kooi, and endorsed by the MHC Executive Board yesterday.
The senior team will be helmed by Stephen van Huizen, while the notable changes were K. Dharmaraj named as women's coach while Arul Selvaraj will assist Wallace Tan in the development side.
"Financially we have almost met our target of erasing our RM2.9 million debt (from eight months ago) to RM500,000 and hopefully in the next few months we will settle that amount as well.
"And with our new development blueprint, I am confident that Malaysia will be back in the world cups (junior and senior) and 2020 Olympics.
"I had said that I will resign as MHC president if Malaysia does not qualify for the 2020 Olympics, but after looking at the development print, I am confident I will not have to call it a day," said Subahan.
The 'easiest' path to the Olympics would be to win gold at the Asian Games: "That would be our target from today, as even Technical Director Terry Walsh is confident we have the players to play in the Asian Games final, and hopefully lay our hands on the gold."
Former national goalkeepers Nasihin Nubli, Roslan Jamaluddin and M. Nadarajan also have specific duties lined up.
"The goalkeeping department was one of the reasons we failed at the World League Semi-finals and Junior Asia Cup and I believe with a concerted effort from our goalkeeping staff, we will be able to have a bigger pool soon to rectify that department," said Subahan.
Malaysia lost 3-2 to India after leading 2-1 in the World League quarter-finals and missed out on the Olympics, while in the Junior Asia Cup quarter-finals, Malaysia were leading South Korea 3-1 but lost wind in the last three minutes to be held 3-3 and then lose 4-1 in the shoot-out.
Coaching chairman Soon Kooi said coaches reports on both the tournaments attributed the defeats to players not being of sound tactical minds to hold the ball and play in a wider area of the field after taking a lead. This area will, again, be emphasised by the present batch of coaches.
COACHING STAFF: Men -- Senior: Chief Coach: Stephen van Huizen; Assistant: Lim Chiow Chuan; Goalkeeper Coach Overall: Nasihin Nubli; Attachment: Madzli Ikmar.
Development Squad: Chief Coach: Wallace Tan; Assistant: Arul Selvaraj; Attachment: Amin Rahim.
Project 2020: Manager: Nor Saiful Zaini; Attachment: Mohamed Sufian.
1Mas: Chief Coach: S. Velappan; Assistants: Nor Harmezi Omar, Shahzan Amir.
Junior Goalkeeper Development Coach: M. Nadarajan.
Women: Chief Coach: K. Dharmaraj; Assistants: Lailin Abu Hassan, A. Kannagi; Goalkeepers Coach: Roslan Jamaluddin.
Development Squad: Chief Coach: K. Gobinathan; Assistant: Leo Vincey; Attachment: Nor Saliza Ahmad.
Project 2020: Manager: Lailin Abu Hassan; Attachment: Catherine Lambok.
1Mas: Chief Coach: Yahya Atan; Assistant: Nuriza Sulaiman.
