KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has committed to strengthening its National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) by drawing insights from Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s (TNB) successful Thunderbolts initiative.
Founded in 2006 by former national hockey player and three-time Olympian Nor Saiful Zaini Nasiruddin, the TNB Thunderbolts programme was initially called “Kilat” before being rebranded to increase public engagement.
The programme partners with five local schools—Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (Johor), Bukit Jalil Sports School (Kuala Lumpur), SMK Seberang Temerloh (Pahang), SMK Anderson (Perak), and SMK Pengkalan Permatang (Selangor)—which serve as centres of excellence for hockey.
Today, 17 national senior team players are alumni of Thunderbolts, a programme funded by TNB at over RM4 million annually.
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said that MHC will examine TNB’s development model to integrate more NHDP players into the national team.
Established in 2020 under the supervision of the National Sports Council (NSC), the NHDP has already shown promise, with 65% of the current junior team emerging from its ranks.
The NSC provides approximately RM1.5 million per year to fund NHDP’s initiatives.
“We need more players progressing through the NHDP ranks, and analysing how TNB operates its programme is essential. Many players from the Thunderbolts programme have made names for themselves, and we need to replicate this success.
“By examining TNB’s approach, we can identify elements for improvement in NHDP, and it may also highlight to the NSC the need to increase our funding.
“Currently, we have NHDP players in the junior team, and we’d love to see them transition into the senior team as well. We’re also looking into adding more NHDP coaches, similar to the Thunderbolts, where former players conduct training sessions.
“We’ll be holding a meeting regarding NHDP’s future direction on November 4 and will make an announcement thereafter,” Subahan said during a press conference at the NSC today.
The Young Tigers (under-21) team, coached by I. Vikneswaran and comprising a high number of NHDP players, recently finished sixth in the Sultan of Johor Cup. — October 28, 2024