In the past, Kuala Lumpur were accused of pinching players from other states. But their effort in grooming youngsters seem to have paid dividends when looking at what the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association has achieved in 2010.
With the exception of the girls, KLHA swept almost all there was to win, as far as titles in Malaysian hockey are concerned.
In a simple but meaningful ceremony, the Under 16 girls, Under 14 boys as well as the Under 14 Indoor squads received certficates from KLHA as well as cash contributed by KLHA president George Koshy.
"It was indeed an eventful year and I am happy for the players as well as the association. All of this is due to hard work put in by the players and coaches and we at KLHA are grateful to many for their contributions," said George.
"The key is being consistent and after winning the bulk of the titles this year, we need to focus towards winning those we missed out on next year. The bigger challenge lies ahead though as defending titles are not easy."
They started by bagging the Under 16 tournament in Sandakan in March and followed up that by winning the Razak Cup in Kuantan two weeks later.
Next was the National Indoor Championships in Ipoh, which was preceded by the Sukma title in Malacca in June.
Their title winning feats continued as they bagged the National Under 16 Indoor tournament in November that was followed up by winning the Under 14 championships in Penang last month.
And that was not all for they bagged the Under 18 and Under 12 MSSM titles earlier this year.
From the girl's perspective, KL won the Under 23 title but were knocked out at Sukma. However their Under 16 team emerged as runners up in the tournament held in Kuala Terengganu last week, a tournament that they can consider themselves as unofficial champs since MWHA allowed the cream of the girls players, in the likes of the Bandar Penawar Sports School to participate.
In MSSM, the girls suffered mixed fortunes as the Under 18 squad lost in the final but their Under 12 team emerged champions.
Credit must go to the officials, coaches as well as parents within the KLHA set up as they have proven that with hard work and forging good relationships, the sport will eventually be the winner.
And that is not taking into account the Malaysian Hockey League where KL Hockey Club won the league title and Tenaga Nasional bagging the overall, ironically both of whom are KLHA affiliates.
