THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) website (www.hokimalaysia.com), is
light years behind the rest of the world even as Malaysia prepares to make
a dent on the information highway.
The latest update on the website was done during the Kuala Lumpur World
Cup in March, but that is not the issue here. The problem with the website
is it is not informative enough.
It is a dead end, unless one is interested in knowing about the MHF
office bearers. The website is first class as far as the organisational
structure is concerned, but does not even provide Malaysia Hockey League
(MHL) results, standings and match reports.
The MHL has reached the tail end, with Tenaga securing the League title
again, while this weekend will be the final push for the other three teams
to make the semifinals.
But if one is interested, one can go to fieldhockey.com, a foreign link,
and read about what is happening in the MHL.
Click on the News icon and there is the stale Kuala Lumpur World Cup
reports and results. The entry forms for the Junior Hockey League, which
will begin next month, is neither there.
TimeSport surfed the web and were amazed with the information on hockey
provided at the www.hockey.org.au site run by Hockey Australia. The
interactive site has all the information that states, youth, coaches,
umpires and managers need to know about the game in their country. And it
is very current.
The Australian website has all the latest information on how to develop
grassroots hockey, and a hockey survey dated May 10 read:
"Over the past couple of months, the Development Department of Hockey
Australia has been conducting a nationwide survey of all the clubs and
associations. We have had a good response so far, but there are still a
lot of clubs and associations still to return the survey. The information
gathered from the survey will enable us to better plan development
requirements in the future."
The Australian website also has, among other icons, Hockey In Australia,
National Teams, National League, Calendar, Competitions, Player's Diary,
Hockey Shop, Links and Picture Gallery (international, national events and
And under coaching, they have - An Electronic Version Of Coaching, How
To Get Juniors To Take Up Goalkeeping, Yoga And Hockey, Level Two Coaching
Online ... and the list goes on and on.
And under Umpiring, the wealth of information is mind-boggling and
TimeSport suggests that Malaysian umpires visit the site to upgrade their
knowledge since they claim that the Malaysian Hockey Federation Umpires
Board has left them to fend for themselves.
Even after a quick comparison between the Malaysian and the Australian
website, one gets the impression that the Aussies are serious about
developing and maintaining a good national side by handing out information on their website to those who they can't reach, while Malaysia has a website that's almost serves the same function as a screen saver.
The youth of today love surfing the internet, and the MHF can do
Malaysian hockey a great favour by clicking on to the present.