The Malaysian Hockey League made its debut in 1987.
Prior to that it was the Champions Club tournament that used to be at the forefront for club hockey.
For those who are shallow in their knowledge of hockey, the Champions Club tournament catered for the champions of state hockey associations.
Prior to that it was the Champions Club tournament that used to be at the forefront for club hockey.
For those who are shallow in their knowledge of hockey, the Champions Club tournament catered for the champions of state hockey associations.
Meaning a club had to emerge champions of their state leagues in order to qualify for the national level tournament.
This spurred club development at the state level as there were keen battles amongst teams for the honour to represent their state at the week long carnival.
The tournament was discontinued after 1986 as the Lucky Strike National Hockey League became the focus of attention.
It was good seeing sponsors coming in and after Lucky Strike there was Sporrts Toto and Sharp who stepped forward.
One interesting fact was how the MHF had to rename the league to Malaysian Hockey League from the original name National Hockey League.
This was as a result of Sharp not being happy as National was a rival brand.
Hence pleasing sponsors is vital but that surely is not the present administration of the sport does.
There is no doubt that the millions pumped in by TNB helps the sport but in realty just how much is spent by MHC to actually manage the league.
Two years ago when I handled the PR and Media of the MHL the TNB conducted an independent study of the PR value and it was at RM22.5 million for their investment of RM1.5 million into the TNBMHL.
But this year with the MHL two weeks away, there seems to be some concerns if TNB will actually carry on with their sponsorship.
Checks reveal that TV rights have yet to be sorted out and there was hardly a whimper when entries closed on July 1.
The problem with MHC is that it does not know how to service sponsors or entice new sponsors.
Even injection of new ideas to make the MHL more interesting is lacking as sponsors suffer from the lackadaisical treatment hence tend to pack their bags.
Handling negative publicity correctly is never a forte and word has it that the first question a sponsor has asked MHC officials was why the blogs are so critical.
And here we have a top official claiming no one reads this blog.
Oh well continue living in your childish world as realty strikes.
