Private hockey clubs are slowly emerging from the shadow of Covid-19, and HockAdemy are one of them.
On Saturday, HockAdemy organised an Under-13 hockey carnival at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, and 14 teams showed up for a full day of activities after a two-year hiatus.
The Datuk Seri Megat Trophy was the focal point for teams from Malacca, Pahang, Penang and KL.
HockAdemy chief coach S. Selvaraju said the tournament was organised following requests from parents, who wanted their children to have a competitive arena instead of just online training.
"It was the parents who wanted to see their children play hockey on the field after a long period of absence due to Covid-19.
"HockAdemy managed to organise it after a few weeks of planning. Players from other states also enjoyed themselves at the Tun Razak Stadium.
"We even had a team from an international school in KL, comprising Dutch-born players," said former national player Selvaraju.
HockAdemy are no strangers to the sport as they have fielded teams in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
The club is run by Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin, also the president of the Paralympic Council of Malaysia.
"We are interested in grassroots development. We hope to organise more youth tournaments to cater a bigger pool of players and teams," said Megat.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) had suspended Megat, also the KLHA president, for 18 months, and an appeal process is still in progress.
Megat had filed an appeal after the MHC disciplinary committee found him guilty of breaking the MHL code of conduct in November 2020.
