KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association (KLHA) pledges to continue developing more talents for the national hockey team setup through this year’s KLHA league, expected to take place in June.
Despite the unresolved water pump issues at their home ground (Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium), the association is determined to find an alternative stadium for the league to be held, with an open-age category format.
Speaking to Scoop, KLHA president I. Vikneswaran said that his association is working on certain mechanisms to ensure the league runs smoothly and aims to continue their fundamentals in ensuring that those in the Klang Valley region get a chance to play hockey.
“As an association, it is our duty to ensure the league proceeds well. There is no guarantee that we will play the league at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium.
“Hence, we are coming up with different mechanisms, such as either playing the league matches at the Pandamaran Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium, or Tun Razak Hockey Stadium.
“This is going to be an open league, and we will devise a plan based on how many teams will be participating.
“We can only decide on the costs once we finalise the mechanisms. We will explain the participating cost to the interested teams and discuss what works best for them.
“The fundamental duty of our association is to run a league and ensure that the Klang Valley public and hockey lovers at large that people can come and play hockey.
“We are targeting to begin the league by the end of June after the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL),” said Vikneswaran when contacted.
At the same time, Vikneswaran took pride in the achievements of Kuala Lumpur City (KL City), a team dispatched by the association to compete in the recently concluded Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).
KL City finished eighth out of 11 participating teams in their debut season, with players such as goalkeeper Danish Afnan Faizal and forward Sriraam Vickneswaran recently called up for the Speedy Tigers training camp under head coach Sarjit Singh, who selected a total of 46 players.
“We sent a KL City team to the MHL, and we finished in the top eight. Some academies have been playing for years, and we achieved something decent with our first try.
“We already have some of our players in the national call-up, and we have already contributed to the national team immediately.
“We are also looking for our players to represent the national junior team in the near future.
“There are obviously some talents in our club and association, and we are always ready to contribute to the pool of players for the national team.
“This is just the beginning, and obviously, we have to expand further. Our junior team will also participate in the MJHL, and this year we will play in Division 2.
“Next year, our goal is to head to Division 1.
“We aim to give our players more exposure by sending them to tournaments to help them prepare for events such as the Malaysian Games (Sukma) and also for the development of hockey in Kuala Lumpur at large,” Vikneswaran added.
The KLHA league will be a joint initiative with the Federal Territory Sports Council and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall. – March 23,2024