KUALA LUMPUR: The National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) received the thumbs up from Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) when it was reviewed on Wednesday.
A meeting was held among NHDP general manager S. Velappan, his staff and MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal to chart a new blueprint for this year, with a culmination at the Mirnawan Cup in September.
"We held a meeting with MHC president and explained our plan for this year which is to continue with basics among the young ones while the Under-17 group will train at their states and then come together for four sessions this year with the aim of selecting a strong boys' and girls' teams for the Ïnternational Invitational Mirnawan Cup which is slated in September.
"There will also be more focus on coaches as they too will be trained to develop a standard playing method nationwide so that when players reach national level, there will be a similarity in their 'Malaysian style' of play," said Velappan.
The NHDP has 111 (boys and girls) centres nationwide run by 220 coaches with about 5,000 trainees at the Under-14 and Under-17 level.
German Junior World Cup (JWC) coach Rein van Eijk had said, during the recent tournament in Kuala Lumpur, that he heard about the NHDP and was impressed with Malaysia's determination to have a large pool of youth playing hockey at various levels.
The Mirnawan Cup is an Under-17 event and last year, 11 teams from five countries competed in its second edition. The foreign challengers were from South Africa, India, Australia and Japan, while Malaysia fielded their boys and girls' teams.
"Since the JWC will be held every two years (instead of four previously) the NHDP can help scout for players nationwide and bring the best together for the Mirnawan Cup where they will play international teams and their standard can be gauged.
"The best in the Mirnawan Cup will also get a chance to become JWC trainees and eventually don national colours. This way, the progression is more systematic and the best players across the nation can be identified by NHDP tentacles which criss-cross the nation," said Velappan.