Pupils taking part in a hockey competition organised by Johor Impact Hockey Club.
Club encourages pupils to participate in national tournaments, offers free training to coaches
Efforts to provide training and support have motivated dozens of Tamil school pupils to participate in hockey competitions nationwide.
In 2018, then SJK(T) Yong Peng headmaster S. Dominig and hockey coach R. Pravin founded Johor Impact Hockey Club, aiming to encourage pupils from Tamil schools to take part in hockey tournaments.
“There are 17 Tamil schools in Johor but none of them had taken part in hockey competitions under the District Schools Sports Council (MSSD).
“We were the first Tamil school in Johor to send a team to the competition in 2018, and one of our pupils even competed at state level.
“We wanted to come up with a way to encourage pupils from other Tamil schools to also take part in the district-level competition,” said Pravin, who is club secretary.
The club organised its first state-level hockey tournament for Tamil schools in 2018 and has since been providing free training to teachers interested in coaching pupils.
“In the first year, four Tamil schools statewide participated.
“There are many schools and pupils interested in joining the competition but are discouraged because of the high cost.
“The equipment could cost between RM6,000 and RM7,000.
“As such, we try to help by borrowing keeper sets from other primary schools.”
Pravin added that in 2019, the number of Tamil schools taking part in MSSD went up to nine.
“In fact, five of them managed to make it to state level.
“It motivated other Tamil schools to also give the sport a try,” he said.
“The achievement also led to our club getting sponsorship for hockey sticks.
“We were able to give 10 new hockey sticks each to 13 schools.”
Dominig, who is club president and Johor Tamil School Hockey Development Programme coordinator, said the club later organised the first national-level hockey competition in 2020.
“It was held before the Covid-19 pandemic. The success of the first competition led to the second edition in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, this year.
“We will soon be having the third edition in Bukit Jalil in January,” he said, adding that the club’s success also inspired Tamil schools in other states to organise similar friendly tournaments.
