KUALA LUMPUR - As much as he misses playing hockey, national player Joel van Huizen intends to listen to the advice of health experts before deciding on his future.
The 29-year-old, who collapsed during Maybank’s 5-0 win over TNB Thunderbolts in the Tigers’ 2021 Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) season opener on March 11 before being rushed to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), is now awaiting the final assessment report from the National Heart Institute’s (IJN) experts.
“I am doing well now, (my) health is fine. For now, (I’m) just following up with the doctors and waiting for their advice on the next steps (that) I have to take.
“For now, the doctors’ advice is not to take part in any competitive sports until my next follow-up appointments. So, (I) will wait and see what the doctors say when I meet them,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
This is not the first time that the midfielder had collapsed during a game. A similar incident occurred when he was on national duty in the second round of the Hockey World League in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2017.
Joel is the third generation of the Van Huizen family to don national colours. His father Stephen and grandfather, the late Lawrence, both represented the country in the Olympics as well as served as national coaches.
Stephen, who played in the 1981 Mumbai World Cup and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, said it would be up to Joel to decide on his future based on the doctors’ recommendations and that the family would readily accept his choice.
“After the previous incident in 2017, Joel was not allowed to play for six months. He has a situation where the heart beats faster (than normal). Joel returned to matches after getting clearance from the doctors and has had no issues for four years with the help of medications to slow down his heartbeat.
“For now, we do not want to speculate... let’s get the doctors’ advice first. I think it will be easier for him to accept it (if he needs to call it a day in hockey) now compared to four or five years ago because he is moving into the next phase of life.
“He is starting to build his career after getting a job in a private company and, as a player, he has achieved quite a bit, having won the 2018 Asian Games silver medal, 2017 SEA Games gold medal as well as having featured in the 2018 World Cup and Commonwealth Games,” Stephen said.
Meanwhile, Maybank coach Azrul Effendy Bistamam confirmed that the midfielder would miss the rest of the season’s MHL matches as they do not want to risk jeopardising Joel’s health.
“We must accept the doctors’ advice and he (Joel) also does not want to take any risks after what happened. I am not sure if he will retire from hockey, but what I do know is that it may be very difficult for him to play competitively. Anyway, it’s his call,” said Azrul Effendy. - Bernama, March 30, 2021
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