KUCHING: Sarawak hockey made sporting history of sorts when the Suksar hockey tournament was played on a grass field instead of astroturf as Miri did not have the facility which is the standard requirement nowadays.
Nevertheless, Sarawak Sports Council (SSC) chief coach C. Sivasubramaniam was very happy that hockey was included as one of the 16 sports in the Suksar competitions as the objective to find new talents was achieved.
Four boys and five girls from Bintulu, Mukah, Sibu and Miri were identified from the competitions to be included for further development such as bringing them for future training camps here.
For those in the Southern Zone, the SHA (Sarawak Hockey Association) has identified the players as they had been playing in Kuching in various tournaments.
“I’m happy that hockey was included in Suksar as what we saw in the under 18 competitions the standard is quite high.
“We must also thank SSC and MSNS (Sarawak State Sports Council) for a large turnout at the games, which is a good sign in promoting the game.
“It was played on grass but it’s great because we want to promote the game in this city.
“We can still identify players from the tournament with four boys and five girls from places like Mukah, Miri, Bintulu and Sibu. We will include the players in our database so that we can continue working on their game.
“I hope in the next Suksar in Sibu, they will have an astroturf there,” said Sivasubramaniam.
The chief coach commended the teachers like Leonardo Edmund from Rosli Dhoby Sibu who is a very dedicated coach and Jukim Joem from SMK Mukah for making the sport active in their schools as the Central Zone emerged champions in the boys’ section while Kuching or Southern Zone were the runners-up.
Meanwhile, Beatrice Sawin from SSC/MSNS was the coach for the winning Southern Zone girls’ team.
