A new breed of coaches are set to take over the stage in the forthcoming Malaysian Hockey League.
Largely due to the fact that the MHC Coaching Chairman Dato Ow Soon Kooi setting clear definitions on the roles of the list of the ' Magnificent Seven", this has opened the opportunity for other coaches to be given a chance to prove their worth.
The seven coaches barred from being involved in any capacity in the MHL for clubs are Stephen van Huizen, Lim Chiow Chuan, Tai Beng Hai, K. Dharmaraj, K. Gobinathan, Lailin Abu Hassan and Erling Wallace Tan.
" The ruling to bar these coaches was a collective decision and the coaches were informed in January," said Ow who is also MHC Vice President.
" We have reiterated this to them and hope they adhere to the regulations.
"It is good that other coaches are given a chance to handle MHL teams and it will give us a bigger pool in the future."
Stephen and Beng Hai handled Sapura and the task is now taken over by Yahya Atan.
As for KLHC, the absence of Dharma and Lim has given Singaporean Harun Radhid to handle the team after being assistant a couple of years ago.
As for TNB, it is believed that they will name Mohd Amin Rahim and M. Kaliswaran to handle their team.
Those who had handled TNB before were Nor Saiful Zaini Nasiruddin and Lailin Abu Hassan.
Maybank has topped in Saiful Azli Abdul Rahman who will be assisted by Zam Zam, Chairil Anwar Abdul Aziz and Azrul Effendy Bustaman.
The appointment of Saiful Azli who has a contract with Brunei HA will give him the added experience to help hockey develop in the sultanate.
Maybank used to be handled by Wallace Tan and S. Vellapan in the past.
As for UniKL they have retained Arul Selvaraj while Terengganu HT has Sarjit Singh at the helm.
While it is good to see new coaches taking over the mantle, there is also a fear that there could be proxy coaches put in place with the strings being pulled by others in the stands.
There is also concern that while these seven are barred, others on the MHC payroll are allowed to coach or play in the MHL.
Perhaps it will be better to tighten the rules next year and provide a leeway.
The rule can be widened to all those employed by MHC or a loosening of the rule to allow them to coach but they will not get paid by MHC for the duration of the MHL.
