Stephen van Huizen's 40

  SENIOR TRAINING SQUAD: S. Kumar, Hairi Rahman, Hafizuddin Othman,  Hazrul Faiz, Razie Rahim, Sukri Mutalib, Aslam Hanafiah, Izad Hakimi, Harmesh Singh, Harmeet Singh, Shahrun Nabil, Shazril Irwan, Baljit Singh, Nabil Fiqri, Azri Hassan, Harvinder Singh, Joel Samuel Van Huizen, Faiz Helmi, Marhan Jalil, Fitri Saari, Ramadan Rosli, Norhizzat Sumantri, Meor Azuan, Rashid Baharom, Dedy Ariyadi, Hafiz Zainol, Faridzul Afiq, Dangerous Lee, Firhan Ashari, Shahril Saabah, Haziq Samsul, Izwan Firdaus, Firdaus Omar, Amirul Aideed, Najib Abu Hassan, Sufi Ismat, Ridzwan Azmi, Nik Aiman, Najmi Jazlan, Nor Syafiq Sumantri. 

Tenaga bank on K. Rajan to revive BJSS

TENAGA Nasional are not only title sponsors of the Junior Hockey League (JHL), but will also have four teams battling for honours starting Jan 15.
  It all started with Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) Thunderbolts, which evolved into Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail (SSTMI) Thunderbolts and became a winning machine which has four consecutive doubles under their belt (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
  BPSS were never in the picture before the Thunderbolts programme was introduced nine years ago, as back then the champions were Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) who has seven League and five Overall titles.
  The Thunderbolts programme by Tenaga is now in three other schools -- BJSS, Pahang Sports School and Anderson.
  Former national juniors coach K. Rajan, a Tenaga employee, has been tasked to revive BJSS' fortunes.
  "BJSS used to be the feared school in JHL as they won seven straight League titles from 2003 to 2009 (and Overall titles in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009).
  "But after the Thunderbolts programme was introduced in BPSS, BJSS were left far behind. Tenaga has started the programme in BJSS this season, and hopefully the school will start producing results again in a few years time," said K. Rajan who also used to coach Tenaga in the JHL.
  Three Thunderbolts will play in Division One, while Anderson in Division One.
  "There will be a standard training format for all Thunderbolts, but when we come to a head-to-head clash, there will be no mercy for our sister teams as each has targets to achieve.
  "In a way, this programme will develop a big pool of young players for the country," said Rajan.
   Tenaga are the only all-local team in the Malaysia Hockey League, and with four junior teams as feeders for the senior side, they are spending their money wisely and not lavishly by hiring foreigners to play in the MHL all the other teams.
  This JHL season will see 10 teams in Division one and 26 teams divided into three zones in Division Two.
  Nine teams will play in the South Zone, eight in Central and nine in North. This was done to cut down on travelling as well as cost per team.

Junior HL: MHC agree to host 36 teams

THE MALAYSIAN Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee Saturday decided to accommodate six late entries, turning the Junior Hockey League (JHL) into a record 36-team tournament this season.
  Last year there were 30 teams, and the same number registered when entries closed.
  But Malacca Young Hurricanes, Anderson PHA, Seratas, MSSWPKL, SM Sains Johor and MISCF-UFL placed their entries anyway -- and the competitions committee chaired by George Koshy did not want to deprive anybody of playing hockey.
  "On a positive note, the record entries shows that hockey is a popular sport in the country and many teams are hungry to play in junior tournaments.
  "But we need to wait and see if quality balances with quantity," said Koshy.
  Ten teams will play in Division One, where SSTMI Thunderbolts have been reigning supreme with four back-to back doubles.
  In Division Two, the 26 teams will be divided into South, Central and North Zones
  "Nine teams will play in the South Zone, eight in Central and nine in North. This was done to cut down on travelling as well as cost per team.
  "The top-two teams in each Zone will then be divided into two groups and the top team in each group will play in the final," said George.
  Division Two will see Felda and Malay College Kuala Kangsar play in the North and Central Zones respectively.
  The JHL was incepted in 1995 when the late Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary S. Satgunam proposed, planned and kick-started a league to develop youth.
  "Even if each team only produces one good player, we will have 36 quality players to be trained for the country. Hopefully, teams in Division Two make and impact by playing good hockey and not just make up the numbers," said Koshy.
  The tournament starts on Jan 15, and MHC will provide a grant of RM3,000 per-team.
  DIVISION ONE: SSTMI Thunderbolts, UniKL Young Guns, Pahang Sports School, Old La Sallians of Klang (Olak-PKT), SSTMI Juniors, Bukit Jalil Sports School, Politeknik Malaysia, Petaling Jaya City Council, Nur Insafi and SMK Datuk Bentara Luar Johor.
   DIVISION TWO: North Zone: Perlis Young Lions, Perlis Young Lions Jnrs, Matri Perlis, MSSD Larut Matang, MSS Kedah, MSSP Penang, Kedah HA-MSNK, Seratas, Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
  Central Zone: Sek Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Felda Juniors, Anderson Thunderbolts, MSNPK-ILHC, Anderson Perak HA, BJSS Juniors, MSSWPKL, MISCF-UFL.
  South Zone: TBSS-Tampin, Malacca High, Young Hurricanes, SMK Datuk Taha, Sabah Sports School, MSNT-Terengganu HT, Pahang Hockey Academy, Datuk Bentara Luar Jnrs, SMS Sains Johor.

To a better hockey year for Malaysia...

Shamala: Lets re-organise development..

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.