MHF caught in a state versus country poser

The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) are in a dilemma. They have to deal with the state versus country issue in drawing up their calendar for 2008 to ensure that the national teams train without disruptions.

The MHF plan to put the national juniors in full-time training and that means the players will not be able to feature in many domestic tournaments. But if the Under-21 tournament is anything to go by, the states will be up in arms if there is a blanket ban on the players.

Some states have criticised the MHF for not allowing the national trainees to play in the Under-21 tournament scheduled for Dec 29-Jan 6 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

The MHF domestic calendar includes the Under-21, Under-14, Under-16, Champions Schools and Razak Cup and all these tournaments involve state teams.

The Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) are club-based tournaments.

The MHF secretary, Hashim Mohamed Yusof, said that the competitions committee would meet on Jan 5 to work out the calendar.

“There is no way we can avoid the state versus country issue. This time we have to make a decision on a year-round basis instead of on an ad hoc basis,” he said.

“Our international commitments are also increasing each year and both our national teams (junior and senior) have important assignments over the next two years. The competitions committee will make the recommendations and it is for the council to make the final decision.”

The only good news for the MHF is that the seniors will not be affected in the early part of the year when the MJHL or the other age-group tournaments are held. That is because there are no players below 19 years in the team.

There is also no Under-21 tournament next year because it alternates with Sukma (Malaysia Games). Terengganu will host the Games from May 31-June 6.

Hashim has called on the state secretaries to provide feedback on the issue.

“It is better if the states take the trouble to discuss it now instead of making noise when a tournament is just round the corner,” he said.

Next year the juniors' main target is the Junior Asia Cup. They will have several tours besides a host of matches in Kuala Lumpur.

For the seniors, the main objective is the Olympic qualifiers in Japan in April and they will also have the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament.

All the national coaches have also been asked to provide their programmes by Jan 5 so that the committee can take them into account when they work out the calendar.