Coming ! TM's 1st anniversary as President of MHF - "The Wish List" for hockey

Comethe beginning of November 2009, the TM would have completed his 1st year as President of MHF. When he took the helm of MHF, he was considered new to Malaysian hockey. TM had the guts to take the leadership, as MHF was already embroiled in enough issues. Any other newcomer would not want to touch MHF with a "barge pole". Obviously, the TM must have thought he could bring much to Malaysian hockey.

With the arrival of TM's 1st anniversary in MHF, i would like to know if TM has any reservations on the decision he made a year ago, whether he was coaxed or otherwise. Whichever, the protagonists would say that the TM is doing a good job slowly and steadily while the antagonists would believe that Malaysian hockey has got worst by just looking at the performances of the national teams.

As for me, the TM has another year to complete his first period of his 2 year term and I am of the opinion the TM has a Vision and a Mission for hockey. Hopefully the results should materialise before the 2nd anniversary of his leadership and realistically the TM can then be judged as to what he has done for Malaysian hockey.

To be helpful, I am putting forward a "WISH LIST" to the TM in the hope he can incorporate it into his strategy to uplift Malaysian hockey. Some of it the TM may have already thought of and if so it makes all of us as "wise men". The idea is that the list is interrelated and one cannot work without the other.

The Wish List.

1. "Hockey Malaysia"

Set up a corporate structure call "Hockey Malaysia" to take responsibility of the various national teams. This structure includes the players, coaches, team management and other ancillary matters pertaining to the team. It shall be manged by professionals, who would draw up their Plans, strategy and budget including the calender of events for the national teams.

"Hockey Malaysia" must be streamlined similar to Hockey Australia or Hockey New Zealand with a bit of modification to take account of local environment. Here all the teams would have their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and also individual KPIs, which would be roped into their contractual scheme plus remuneration package.

2. Affiliation.

MHF should open their doors for affiliation to Clubs or other organisations like Colleges or Universities who have interest in hockey.

These Clubs should participate in the Malaysian Hockey League(MHL) and also take responsibility to adopt schools or create a prescribed number of talents as part of pre-agreed development programme.

3. State Leagues.

Existing State affiliates need to create their own state leagues which shall be predefined. They too need to develop a prescribed number of talents under the pre-agreed development programme.

4. Failure to perform by States or Clubs.

If Clubs or States fail to fulfill their criteria to remain as members, they should be suspended as affiliates for a period until they have rectified their shortcoming. If the failure persists, then they shall be expelled as affiliates.

5. Tax relief for sporting expenditure.

MHF should discuss with the Malaysian Tax authorities to provide for "double deduction" for tax purposes for expenses incurred in:

• Participating in the League
• Providing employment opportunism for sportsmen and coaches
• Providing education or skills training for the sportsmen
• For developing talents
• Sponsorship or Donations for sporting events

Such "double deduction" relief should be allowed to be "rolled over" to be deducted against future profits if there is insufficient profits to set off against in prevailing periods.

6. Foreign Coaches.

The country badly needs a good reputable foreign national coach with a sound track record. We need such a coach so as to built our own portfolio of coaches who can benefit from the wealth of experience from such a coach.

Equally we need a good foreign national development coach with an impeccable record to formulate and implement a development and talent programme so as it becomes the "supply chain" to the national teams.

7. Local Coaches.

Malaysian local coaches must be sent to upgrade their skills particularly the FIH Coaching certificates including the master coach category.

At the same time some of our coaches must also be seconded to various foreign national sports institutes or other national teams to gain the relevant experience and have first knowledge of competition.

8. Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).

Once the doors of affiliation is open and the tax relief is put in place plus with the right prize money, MHF should be able to market its MHL Indeed teams from Singapore could also participate , thereby broadening the competition.

To do all these MHF has to market its product, and effective selling is the key issue.

The "Wish List" only outlines 8 items but they are elaborate enough to bring significant changes in the Malaysian hockey environment. In essence all the matters listed are nothing new and probably has been thought but there was nobody with the "will" to implement it. TM has this opportunity and if done, this legacy of TM would take Malaysia into another paradigm ie putting us into the foundation to create World Champions.

So TM, why not set the pace to fulfill the "Wish List" before your 2nd anniversary as President of MHF. If so, history would recognise TM's significant contribution to Malaysian hockey.