M Jayamaran Former Hockey International - Shows Concern About Hockey At School Level...

M Jayamaran fondly known as Jaya, a former hockey International who shared his views about the status of hockey sports at school level which he says is the core problem that is leading towards poor success at State, National & International level.

Jaya was one of the outstanding hockey player produced by State of Selangor. At age group level, he was very skillful and had a high degree of fitness level. He grew up in Klang and played for Selangor and MPK. His idol was S Sivabalan another great former International and Jaya used jersey No 14 to emulate Sivabalan's pathway.

He was one of the players that could do an overhead on the run and very precise in his passes. His work rate and his intelligence on the field was his speciality.

Jaya played for Malaysia at 1992 Junior Asia Cup, 1993 Junior World Cup, 1993 Asia Cup, 1994 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 1994 Asian Games and 1995 Chiengmai Sea Games. He contributed and served well with his former employer Maybank and achieved many success at MHL. He also Captained State Team and Maybank Hockey Club. His leadership was superb and his mantra was "the team is above any individual".

After his active retirement, he had the love and passion  to help out in the grass-root hockey development. He was involved in Highlander Hockey Club Development program ( HHC) - Klang and currently involved in Klang District Hockey Association Development program.

He raised this pertinent matters about hockey at school level:

1. Competition

He argued that currently the district & state inter school competition are held on carnival basis and using modified rules and played on half or 3/4 of pitch sizes. He recalls that those days at least 2 months to win district and another 2 months to be State Champions and overall min of 6 months of hockey was played. As of today, within weeks Champions are made and announced.

2. Quality of School Coaches

He said that MOE is just churning out Coaches without proper basic hockey teaching at grassroot especially in most schools. He said today very rare to see a player who possess full complete basic skills from stopping to flicking. He pointed out nowadays no players hit a ball anymore. He said the introduction level of Coaching is very important as in the long run the impact will decide whether the player will be a successful one.

3. State & District Pengerusi Teknik

His question is straightforward - are they selected based on merit & knowledge of the game. Are they been monitored and access frequently on their activities and performance. Do they get updated on latest modern hockey training and syllabus and rules of the game. Most Pengerusi Teknik at District and State level lack the requirements to manage and implement the sports at its best.

4. State Sports School

He said by establishing the State Sports School, it has taken the competitiveness of other schools and players to compete at actual footing. Also what process of talent identification that is used to select the potential and future stars. He also suggested that State Sports School should engaged some former International or current International to teach the high end international skills especially PC Attack, Goalkeeping and PC Defence etc.

5. PLD - Pusat Latihan Daerah

He said it is not functioning well due to limited budget and qualified Coaches. The quality of players from PLD is mediocre even though they train more and gets more facility support from MOE.

6. Champion Schools & Talent Camps

He said the Annual Champions Schools should be introduced again. And after each Champions Schools, the selectors must select a squad and to attend the Talent Camp on periodically and keep a database to keep following their progress over the years.

7. Selangor HA (SHA) & District Affiliates

SHA & District Affiliates should be doing more in grassroot level. Selangor used to be the bedrock of many great former hockey international and won many National Championship. Those days, if people hear or to play against Selangor, they will shiver but nowadays, the glory is lost and no longer a hub that produces top players or great Coaches. SHA needs to do some soul searching and come up with better short and long term grassroot programs especially in schools. 

8. Racial Imbalance 

He said we must understand that sports are sometimes influenced by current events and politics. In our country, participation in sports is in a way influenced by race and ethnicity.

According to the Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2017 by non-profit social organisation, Pusat Komas, there is racial imbalance of participation in sports. For instance, hockey, football, basketball and table tennis are predominated by certain ethnic groups.

The strong support that we give our national athletes during competitions should not be construed as a sign of unity. All stakeholders must look at this issue seriously.

9. Evaluation

He said when evaluating potential players, School Coaches must look for a certain set of attributes such as:

• Skill
• Sportsmanship
• Speed/Fitness
• Preparedness/Focus
• Character
• Attitude Towards Learning
• Leadership Quality
• Competition Ability

10. Standardized Syllabus of Coaching

Jaya's concern is most Coaches do not possess high degree of latest Coaching methodology. Different Coaches teaches different style of Coaching and mostly are not teaching the right way.

He suggested that there should be a Committee combining the Pengerusi Teknik with all the appointed Coaches with State or National Coaching Committee on a quarterly basis to review their Coaching methodology and update on the technical and tactical aspects which is inline with the modern international hockey standards.

With this approach, the Coaching Development aspect will be well monitored and their progress will be seen improving over time. It would also permit all Coaches to use the standardized syllabus as their guide to improve themselves. In this manner the growth of grassroot level will be achieved drastically.

Conclusion

Overall the game is suffering at District and State level. Hope there will be a light at the end of the tunnel if SHA & District Affiliates could address this major issues that is hindering the growth of hockey in schools.

He jokingly said that until this school issues are not sorted out, don't dream of Malaysia to play in Olympic level again. First level to succeed is the grass-root but if "no root how the grass is going to grow". He said with his cheeky smile...

Jayamaran brought enormous of glory to Club, State of Selangor and National. His character of not giving up and fighting for every ball with winning mentality was his forte in his success as a top State & National player.

We hope we could find many more  Jayamaran's in years to come and we wish him the very best in his endeavours with Klang Hockey District Association (KDHA).

All the best M Jayamaran...