Deputy director-general of the National Sports Council of Malaysia (NSC), Ariffin Mohd Ghani, a former national hockey player, attributes his success as a person and in his career entirely to the game.
The 55-year-old who hails from Malacca was a member of the squad that played in the Junior World Cup that Malaysia hosted in Ipoh in 1989 and was a national player from 1989 to 1993.
“Hockey was a game-changer for me. If I had not played hockey, I doubt I would be where I am today,” said the affable Ariffin.
“Hockey built my character and made me mature. The multiracial team I played with taught me understanding, tolerance, an appreciation of comradeship, harmony, and, above all, the ability to interact with every level of society.
“Until today, almost all my decisions are based on my experiences in hockey. And using hockey mechanics has helped me make the right decisions.”
Apart from playing in the Junior World Cup, Ariffin also had the honour of managing the Junior World Cup teams twice – in 2001 (Hobart, Australia) and 2005 (Rotterdam, Netherlands).
With the national team, he played in the Asia Cup (1990) Inter-Continental tournament in Pozan, Poland in 1993, Champions Trophy in 1993 and in several other international tournaments.
“Being a manager gave me a different perspective on the game. As a player, everything is provided for you, and your job is to perform well in the game,” said Ariffin who holds a law degree.
“But as a manager, I had to ensure the players were always in the right frame of mind – that their welfare was looked into, that they had the right food and accommodation, and manage each player individually and the team as a whole.”
“That gave me a great deal of experience in dealing with people, managing them and meeting their needs.”
Ariffin, who studied at UITM, worked with Yayasan Negri Sembilan for three years and played for them in the national league. They emerged as champions four times.
He also played for City Hall, Majlis Perbandaran Seremban (MPS) and Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MPPJ).
Ariffin’s career with NSC started as a sports officer in 1995 before moving into athlete preparation and then director of administration and events.
He was the Director of the Malacca Sports Council for a year and three months from 2019 before returning to NSC as head of the Corporate Division.
He was then appointed as Deputy Sports Commissioner in 2020, a position he held for two years and eight months before returning to the National Sports Council as the Deputy Director-General three months ago.
It has indeed been a long climb from junior officer to the No. 2 post at NSC for Ariffin but he fully deserves to be where he is today. In fact, there is a good chance that he may end his career as the No. 1 man at NSC.
Speaking about the Junior World Cup team of 1989 that he played with, he speaks fondly of how tight they were, having trained for three years before the actual competition under coaches Yang Siow Meng and Balbeer Singh.
“My only regret is that the team did not finish higher in the tournament as there were only two groups with six teams in each group. We had for company Germany, Argentina, Australia, Holland, and Egypt. We defeated Holland and Egypt.”
Malaysia defeated Spain 3-1 in the 5th to 8th playoffs before losing to Argentina 2-1 in the fifth and sixth playoff.
Ariffin emerged the top scorer for the Malaysian team with six goals.
He also recalled the Junior Asia Cup in Karachi in 1988 where Malaysia finished fourth.
“We were tied for second spot with Korea and India, but Korea advanced to the semifinals on better goal difference.”
Malaysia had defeated Korea 3-2 and against India Ariffin had scored the opening goal but they went down.
“All of those great moments, I will remember forever,” said Ariffin a father of three (a 28-year-old daughter and sons aged 25 and 22) and the grandfather of a seven-month-old girl.
