Killing two birds with one stone
Published on: Saturday, November 01, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Hockey Association (SHA) is reviving the Borneo Cup Hockey again after a 10-year hiatus with an aim at "killing two birds with one stone" of which the other objective is to inculcate and rejuvenating interest in the sport among the public especially in schools.Its organising chairman cum Vice-President of the association, Dr Charanjeet Singh (pic), said hockey has never left the sporting scene in Sabah although it has not been given spotlight attention for the past several years.To prove his point, he said the SHA regularly holds local hockey tournaments annually where children, government bodies including enforcement authorities such as the police took part.
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"In fact, in December, we will have the Dr Charanjeet Singh Gill Cup tournament and we really hope there will be a good turnout not only from the public but also from the hockey teams," he said.He said hockey might not have the crowd-puller attraction such as soccer and badminton but that is not deterring the organisation from continuing with its effort to sustain as well as to spur the interest in the sport.It was along this notion that President of the SHA, Datuk Mohd Yusop Mansor, suggested to his peers in the association to revive that was last held by Sabah in 1999 and then in Brunei in 2004.After Brunei, he said, no one or no other hockey associations seemed bothered to hold the event.
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"But then he (Mohd Yusop) asked me to toy with the idea (of reviving it) and later we decided why not return the prestigious tournament again," he said.And everything, following the conversation, seemed to fall right into place with the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman Challenge trophy for the men and the Sultan of Brunei Challenge trophy for the women's category being sponsored.
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Making the organising committee work even easier is the experience that some of its members have after having taken part in the Borneo Cup Hockey Championship previous editions.Dr Singh said that he seriously hoped that the rekindling of the tournament would be a prelude to something even bigger.And with the participation of five men teams and five women teams – six from Sarawak, Labuan and Sabah and four from Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia, he foresees the exposure and experience that the players, especially in Sabah, would benefit from it."I hope that through this tournament with help of coverage from the media, there would be interest from the spectators especially children to be drawn to it."We want to show that hockey in Sabah is still very much alive," he said.The SHA, he said, is also grateful with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and State Education Department for its support to hockey in general and to the Borneo Cup Hockey Championship.Dr Singh said hockey development programme in the country by the Malaysia Hockey Federation (MHF) also covers Sabah where the objective or target group are mostly school-going children.There is also the 1Murid 1Sukan or one student/pupil one sport programme under the country's education programme where students are involved in at least one sporting activity.Through this, he said, the association has seen schools pushing for hockey among its students.Looking at the scenario, Dr Singh said he is happy with such development taking place.In the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, recently, Malaysian hockey snatched the bronze medal. But enroute to the medal, it forced better hockey-established nation Pakistan to a penalty showdown where Malaysia was defeated by one penalty stroke only.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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