K. DHARMARAJ has done it all in hockey, but even he was a little apprehensive about the latest challenge from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).
His instruction, should he choose to accept the job, was: “Coach the women’s indoor hockey team and trade the 2017 KL Games bronze medal for a Manila gold.
“Time constraint could be a factor, but since all Malaysian players started with the field game, while some graduated to indoor, I took up the challenge,” said Dharmaraj.
And so, the man who coined the phrase “'Siapa Datang Kita Langgar” in his book about the journey of his 2013 Junior World Cup team, did not back down.
“It will be a first for me, as I have never played or coached indoor hockey before.”
Dharmaraj played for the country, coached the Project 2013 team to the Junior Asian Cup title and fourth place in the Junior World Cup.
He then took over the men’s team, followed by the women's team and now it’s indoor hockey.
After the Sea Games, Dharmaraj has been tasked by the MHC to return to the national women's junior team.
“Yes, it looks like I have done everything except becoming the security guard at the hockey stadium,” said Dharmaraj in jest.
Yahya Atan was the national women’s indoor coach, but he was sent back to do development work .
“Luckily, they sent many names for Sea Games registration, and I can still do a selection by including other field players into this indoor training squad.
“We will be up against defending champions Thailand and silver medallists Indonesia who are years ahead in the indoor game. I believe both the teams are in Europe right now to play and train for Manila.
“Even though some of our girls are latecomers to the sport, I believe they have enough time to adapt to the smaller field, playing surface as well as the rules, compared to field hockey,” said Dharmaraj.
The Malaysian men are defending champions and should deliver gold yet again, but Dharmaraj and his women might find it even difficult to qualify for the final.
But with Dharmaraj’s guile and expertise, one can never know what he is going to achieve when thrown a challenge.