Newly-appointed national men’s hockey team head coach Sarjit Singh has clearly defined his goals – to see that the Speedy Tigers rise with the best formula.
The former international, who witnessed the ups and downs of the national team in the last four years, even missing out on an Asian Games gold medal that punctuated Malaysia’s chance of qualifying for the Olympics, said his journey as coach begins in the next few days.
“I can safely say that we will name 40-42 players on March 10 and the first training session will begin on March 19. Since it is the month of Ramadan, training will be held at night after breaking of fast,” said Sarjit at his first meet-the-press session at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
The 61-year-old coach, who played in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said he is looking forward to the new challenge.
“We are looking forward to this challenge. Nothing is going be easy. Hopefully everybody is together and we have a positive energy around us to work as a team,” he added.
On the question of changes to the national team lineup and structure, Sarjit, who has more than 200 caps and captained the national team from 1987-1993, stressed that he will make an assessment of the players and team before deciding on his next move.
“We cannot talk about changes in the team now. First, we need to assess our team and be realistic. How far is the gap between us and the top teams in the world. We have to look at the European teams. Assessment is very important. Where do we stand? It will take 14-18 months to prepare a team and only after that we can see the direction of the team.”
“I want players who are discipline in and off the field. I need players who can deliver the extra work, hardworking and fully committed,” he commented.
He stressed that personality and character play the pertinent factor in his assessment of players, apart from their skills.
“We need to get the players ready for the next Asian Games in 2026. There is a lot of work to be done. This is the fasting month and in May we will be involved in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, followed by the Nations Cup in Gniezno, Poland (May 31- June 9), and Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia (from Sept 8-17).
However, Sarjit was candid when he said he will not rule out the possibility of including senior players such as drag-flick specialist Razie Rahim, captain Marhan Jalil, and forward Fitri Saari to name a few who have featured in more than 250 international caps.
“If we take the seniors players people will comment on our selection process and the same goes if we have too many juniors. Assessment is very important. Of course, we want to give opportunities to younger players who can go the extra mile for us. They are the future of our hockey.
“But we cannot ignore the fact that we also need some senior players who can use their experience and expertise to support the younger players. We have to look at the quality of the players. We have many players playing for Malaysia but do they really have experience playing at international level. Not many. We want more players. But I need to talk to these senior players first.”
“I can only talk about the material we have once I go in as a coach and after 14-18 months, I am able to answer that question. We will than know the direction the team is moving and heading,” said Sarjit.
He added that he will appoint three local coaches – a goalkeeper coach and two assistants.
Meanwhile, MHC president Dato’ Sri Subahan Kamal said it is the aspiration of the national body to have one roof for the senior and junior players in their playing and training structure.
“We leave it solely to the head coach to decide where to move forward. We want the seniors and juniors to train and have the same playing style. The same DNA. The head coach is given the task to draw out this plan,” said Subahan.
“Because we find it at times the head coach does his own job and the junior coach does his own job. There is also a clash in releasing players in different tournaments. Now what we want them is to speak with the same voice, and work as a family.”
