When I was growing up, Malaysia’s sporting pride and joy were two sports – Badminton and Hockey. I remember when I was fourteen years old, I told my mother who is not a sports person, that the Malaysian Men’s team were always “matching it” with the top six Hockey nations. My mother found that story to be very inspiring.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would work with Malaysian Hockey. From 2017 to 2019, I worked with the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) as a Performance Lifestyle and Communications Consultant. My job was mainly conducting Communications, Leadership, and Career Development training sessions for our Men’s team to help our boys plan their Hockey and “Life After Sport” career plans.
Our National Men’s and Women’s programs are both made up of some very talented athletes and coaches. I will be honest, I frequently think about our Hockey talents. I hope one day both categories can qualify for an Olympic Games.
This week I thought about them so much that I reached out to the famous and friendly MHC Deputy President - Professor Dato’ Dr Shamala – to find out how our Hockey Community is doing.
Prof Shamala was ever so kind to share the following points with me:
• HOW COVID HAS AFFECTED TRAINING:
“It has been challenging, but our main focus is to ensure that we never forget our goals. Our long-term “GOLD” is to be on top of the podium at the 2026 Asian Games – for men and women.
In order for this to happen, our playing group must always work on their fitness. During the MCO or CMCO, we have deployed some great new training programs such as on-line monitoring, bubble-based training in partnership with the National Sports Council, and ensuring our athletes get access to solid educational programs.”
• MAINTAINING THAT HIGH-PERFORMANCE CULTURE:
“In Sport, this is never easy because this is something that you have to get the young athletes to buy into quickly. The older age groups understand it, so it is about getting everybody on the same page. Our Coaches are very passionate and committed, but we are constantly using Sports Science data and technology to help us make better decisions.”
• LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES:
“It is a fact of life that there will always be a group of people who like to “rock the chair.” In situations like this, you just have to stand firm on our philosophy and vision. I am very fortunate that my MHC seniors, colleagues, and I all share the same dream, which is to make our nation’s Hockey great. We always keep telling ourselves that no matter the challenges that we face, we will always stay resilient, work as a team, and continue to work harder and smarter to make our “GOLDS” a reality for our beloved nation Malaysia.”
On behalf of all the Vibes sports readers, I thank Professor Shamala for her time, warmth, friendship, and most of all – great stories. Don’t worry everyone, Prof is a very open person who likes to share to inspire, and I will definitely be calling her constantly to share more Malaysian Hockey stories.
Ben Ibrahim is a TV Commentator, Sports & Media Consultant. In his career, he has also worked for FIBA, FISU, Foxsports, and the Ministry of Youth & Sports.
He also helped set-up the Malaysia Valke Rugby Club that played in the 2019/2020 Global Rapid Rugby competition.
You can contact him on his Public Facebook page or his Instagram Account @benibrahim_
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