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News for 29 December 2015

All the news for Tuesday 29 December 2015


Hanif Khan named national team manager-cum-chief coach

Anwar Zuberi



KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has appointed former Olympian Hanif Khan as manager-cum-chief coach of the national hockey team on Monday, sources confided to Dawn.

Hanif will be assisted by another former Olympian Qamar Ibrahim as coach.

The decision was made following deliberations with the PHF hierarchy over the last few days, said Hanif while confirming the appointments at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium where he is regularly watching matches of the ongoing 62nd National Hockey Championship on Monday.

The former inside left of repute said all players including the seniors and those picked by the selectors during the event will be given fair chance to prove their fitness in the camp.

Responding to a question, he said Azlan Shah hockey tournament will be team’s first international assignment next year.

Hanif added that he will not interfere in the junior team affairs and leave it up to Tahir Zaman to prepare the outfit for the 2016 junior World Cup being held in India.

Welcoming the appointment of his deputy, Hanif, who has recently retired from Customs, said he (Qamar) is a Master Coach and the combination will yield fruitful results.

He thanked the PHF president retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar for reposing confidence in him. “I’ll try my best to live up to the expectations,” said Hanif, who has taken over the reigns of national team after some two years.

Dawn



Sacked in 2013, Hanif Khan returns as head coach of Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan's celebrated hockey Olympian Hanif Khan has returned to the national squad as its manager and head coach nearly two and half years after he was sacked from the same role by the national hockey federation.

Hanif, who was sacked in July 2013 after Pakistan finished seventh in the Hockey World League in Malaysia and didn't qualify for the 2014 World Cup, had than described his sacking as "insulting" and "disrespectful".

"The PHF had insulted and ridiculed me by sacking me without informing me. The PHF is not a institution for honourable people to work with," Hanif had said after his ouster.

But today the new PHF set up announced that Hanif would be the manager and chief coach of the national senior team with Qamar Ibahim as coach.

Hanif, who won two Olympic medals as a player and captain including the gold in the 1984 Los Angles Olympic games, guided Pakistan to the gold in the Champions Trophy and Asian Champions Trophy after he took charge post the 2012 London Olympics.

The new PHF set up has wasted no opportunity to revive the sport at the domestic level with the national hockey championship being held at the newly installed blue desso turf at the hockey club of Pakistan in Karachi.

It is after years that a major event is being organised at the historic HCP with the floodlights also switched on to host the knockout stage matches in the championship.

The Times of India



Eight juniors called up to national senior squad

by S. Ramaguru


Hockey player Mohamed Firdaus Omar (right) represented Malacca during the Sukan Malaysia in Perlis last year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Eight players from the Junior Asia Cup squad have been roped into the national senior hockey team.

With the inclusion of the eight –  Mohamed Firdaus Omar, Mohamed Ridzwan Azmi, Mohamed Najmi Farizal Jazlan, Mohamed Najib Abu Hassan, Nor Syafiq Sumantri, Nik Aiman Rozemi, Mohamed Sufi Ismat and Mohamed Amirol Aideed – there are now 40 players in the team.

National chief coach Stephen van Huizen said the eight were impressive in the recent Razak Cup competition.

“We will start training on Jan 6 for two months. After that, selection trials will be held at the end of February to pick the final 25-man squad. The players will play among themselves over five matches during the trials. “The final 25 players will form our Podium Project Team. The rest will either be moved to the development team or dropped depending on our assessment,” said Stephen.

As for the rest of the Junior Asia Cup players, they are expected to be called up to join the newly-formed development squad under coach Wallace Tan.

Malaysia failed to qualify for next year’s Junior World Cup Finals in India after finishing fifth in last month’s Junior Asia Cup in Kuantan.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) recently formed the development team as a feeder to the senior team.

“It’s a good move to have the development team as the players will receive systematic training throughout the year. If they show their potential, they will be called up to the senior team.

“No players in the Podium Project Team should take their places for granted. They can be replaced any time if they suffer a drop in form,” said Stephen.

Stephen’s first assignment next year is the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh in April. The team’s other tournament for the year is the Asia Champions Trophy, which is expected to be held in Kuantan in November.

The MHC are bidding to host the tournament for the first time.

The Star of Malaysia



Junior hockey league gets three more teams

by S. Ramaguru

KUALA LUMPUR: Three more teams have entered for the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

But their participation in the Under-19 league, which begins on Jan 15, is still in doubt as they only sent in their entries after the closing date on Dec 21. The three late entries are Seratas Taiping, Young Hurricanes and MSSM Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee will meet on Saturday to decide on their admission.

A record 30 teams were expected to compete in the 22nd edition of the league.

If the three new entries are accepted, they are likely to play in Division Two.

The MHC had earlier decided that only 10 teams will compete in Division One. They are double champions SSTMI-Thunderbolt, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), BJSS-Thunderbolt, SSP-MSP-Thunderbolt, Politeknik Malaysia, Olak PKT Tigers, SSTMI Juniors, Nur Insafi and SMK Dato Bentara Luar.

The meeting on Saturday will also decide on the format of play and the groupings for Division Two.

Although the MHC had opened the door to foreign teams, sadly there were no takers.

An inaugural women’s junior league, also an Under-19 event, will also take off next year. The competitions committee will decide on the dates for the league on the same day.

The Teams

Div One: SSTMI Juniors, SSTMI-Thunderbolt, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), BJSS-Thunderbolt, SSP-MSP-Thunderbolt, Politeknik Malaysia, Olak PKT Tigers, Nur Insafi, SMK Dato Bentara Luar.
Div Two: TBSS-Tampin, Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman Ipoh, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, MSSD Larut Matang, Felda Juniors, Anderson Thunderbolt, MSNPK-ILHC, MSN-PHP-Perlis Young Lion, MSSP-PHP Young Lion Jr, MSSPP, Matri Perlis, SMK Dato Mohd Taha, KHA-MSNK, MSS Kedah, Sabah Sports School, BJSS Jr, Pahang Hockey Academy, Sekolah Dato Bentara Luar Jr, MHS–Hercules, MSNT-PHT

The Star of Malaysia



The Hockey Museum: The Future



The Hockey Museum might be a celebration of all that has happened in hockey’s long and exciting history, but the people running the museum are anything but backward looking.

Led by Mike Smith, the committed and enthusiastic volunteers have been making huge strides forward since they moved into the premises supplied by Woking Borough Council just over four years ago.

The EuroHockey Championships in August earlier this year brought The Hockey Museum into the public eye to a far greater extent, and over the course of the event many people either brought collections in or promised to donate them further down the line.

The Hockey Museum had a stand at the Championships, with a spectacular window display and a number of amazing artefacts for hockey enthusiasts to view.

Among the exhibition pieces were hockey outfits from different eras, a selection of original ‘hockey in art’ items, a display of 125 years of Wimbledon LHC, original archive material from the beginning of the 20th century, displays of pin badges, stamps and postcards and the ever popular range of old hockey sticks and balls.

There was also a large screen TV showing cine-film footage of coaching sessions and matches from the mid 20th century.

The four months since the EuroHockey Championships have been busier than ever and this has fuelled its trustee’s ambitions.

“We have gone from a few collections in a garage to a recognised museum seeking accreditation by 2016 in just four years,” says curator and founder Mike Smith. In just a couple of months, the Museum will have its first paid employee, a collections management officer, and Smith is hoping a professional curator will be on board shortly after that.

“I am a curator who knows nothing about curation,” says Smith modestly. “I really need to be the director, and leave someone who knows what they are doing to curate.”

One of the biggest projects being undertaken at the moment is the Oral Histories project. The Hockey Museum received a grant from English Heritage to help fund Oral Histories, and the project was launched at the EuroHockey Championships.

At that event, 19 oral history interviews were recorded, including one with FIH President Leandro Negre, but there are many more planned for the future, as Smith points out, speed of implementation is increasingly necessary. “The trouble with oral histories is that you have to get them done before we irretrievably and inevitably lose the subjects.”

The museum is looking to outside sources for help in presenting the histories. Smith points to surfing as a sport that showcases its oral histories in a really innovative way. “We are talking to them to get some guidance on how best to showcase our own oral histories. The access to what they have done and how it comes across is brilliant.”

The support is not all one-way. Following its discussions with FIH, The Hockey Museum is also in talks with other nations who want to start their own national hockey museums. “We are looking to get into talks with Ireland, India, Italy and the Netherlands,” says Smith. “They are all at various stages of getting their own national museums up and running. We are doing a presentation at the FIH Congress in 2016 and this might spark interest in other nations.”

One of the things that really sparked interest at the EuroHockey Championships was the 60 metre-long time-line, which was displayed along one wall of the Spectator Plaza.

The series of images over 19 panels represent key points in the development of hockey from the Egyptians in 2000 BC to the present day.

It was  commissioned by England Hockey and designed by one of the museum volunteers, Martin Ellis. The timeline has set a precedent for future similar projects, the Champions Trophy and the 2018 World Cup will both be held in London and time-lines charting these tournament’s history will feature heavily in The Hockey Museum’s offering.

But one of the biggest challenges for The Hockey Museum and its volunteers is to take the wealth of information about the history of the sport and enhance it.

The aim, says Smith, is to produce definitive commentary and history of the sport, and that means further research and study.

A number of topics are already being researched and some books, articles and papers have been published or are under way.

The newly-formed partnerships with FIH, Woking Borough Council, the Surrey Museums partnership and a host of researchers and volunteers from around the world will help this small, but busy museum achieve its aims.

To find out more about The Hockey Museum, visit their website: hockeymuseum.net

FIH site



USA Field Hockey is Seeking a Coaches Director for the Board of Directors

The Nominating Committee of USA Field Hockey is seeking applicants to fill the vacated position of Coaches Director on the Board of Directors. The successful candidate will serve a term beginning on February 1, 2016 and ending on December 31, 2016.

Each Director of the Board of Directors must be a citizen of the United States and eighteen (18) years of age or older. In addition, a director shall:

1. Be a dues paying member in good standing with USA Field Hockey;
2. Must be a Coach member or a Lifetime member with a coach upgrade
3. Have the highest personal values, judgement and professional integrity;
4. Have demonstrated exceptional ability and judgement; and
5. Be effective, in conjunction with the other members of the Board, in collectively serving the long-term interests of USA Field Hockey.

More information about this position and all positions on the Board of Directors can be found within the USA Field Hockey Bylaws (Article 5). The USA Field Hockey Bylaws can be found by clicking here.

Interested applicants are encouraged to send a brief letter indicating their interest in being a candidate for this position to Jesse Larson, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and also please copy Susan Nottingham, Board Liaison to the Nominating Committee, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please do not respond to National Office Staff. All letters of interest should be returned to Jesse and Susan as soon as possible, but no later than December 31, 2015. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Jesse at 443-691-0773.

To vote in the upcoming election you must be a coach member or a lifetime member with a coach upgrade by January 10.

USFHA media release

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