KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — After eight years with Selangor Hockey Association (SHA), Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal relinquished his post as president last Saturday.

Subahan, who is also Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president, had said he would step down once he had fulfilled his goals which were to revive interest in Selangor hockey.

The state were kingpins of inter-state hockey from the 1950s until the end of the last century when the game fell into neglect.

Revival efforts foundered for lack of funds and public interest. 

Among Subahan’s crowning achievements were reviving the Selangor Hockey League (SHL) and introducing a 32-team carnival-like Selangor Open with emphasis on youth development. 

He played a big part in pushing the state government to resurface the Majlis Perbadanan Petaling Jaya and Stadium Hockey Pandamaran grounds which were in deplorable condition.

Now, both venues have new turf.

Subahan’s interest in hockey’s began in 2009 when former SHA president Datuk Solomon Selamat invited him to join SHA and he was voted in as deputy president. Two years later he assumed the hot seat.

"The first post they gave me was competitions chairman. My duty was to figure out how to revive the state league which at the time, was inactive for seven years,” recalled Subahan.

"We lost a lot of talented players who ran to neighbouring states.

"It was difficult to find sponsors so I used my own funds to run the league,” revealed Subahan.

"Now after three years as deputy and five as president of SHA, I’m happy to say we have a running league and a long-term sponsorship deal with QNET Malaysia to give RM80,000 a year.

"To top it off, MHC give about RM80,000 to every state per year. This money affords a lot of opportunities for children to play the game and ensure there’s a continuation plan for us to build on.”

Hockey’s main issue is lack of interest among states in investing in its growth. Football is the main attraction and gets priority.

The exceptions are Terengganu and Negri Sembilan, who both get plenty of support from the state government Terengganu are now the team to beat in the men’s and women’s game.

However, unlike other states, SHA do not have a home to speak of. 

They have no office and share a workspace with Subahan at his business premises in Mont Kiara.

Repeated pleas to the state to allow SHA to use MPBJ stadium have fallen on deaf ears. Though partly responsible for the resurfacing of the turf, Selangor teams are not excused the exorbitant rates they have to play for practice sessions at the stadium.

At Pandamaran booking rates are RM80 per hour from 7am to 7pm and RM160 per hour after 7pm. There are additional charges for tournaments like RM200 each for garbage bins, and sound system and RM300 as cleaning fee. 

At MPBJ its averaging RM100 per hour during the day and RM220 at night.

"The state government do not give you a sen and are not interested in developing hockey talent,” explained Subahan.

"They have made a lot of empty promises. The least they could do is subsidise our playing time or even give it to us for free as we are not making money out of it. It’s for the sport and making it accessible to kids.

"How else can we develop the game if there is no access for children to go out and have a hit?” shrugged the 51-year-old.

It has been an eventful year for Subahan.

In February, he won the FA of Selangor (FAS) presidency uncontested after former president and Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali resigned in December 2016.

He was elected FA of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president at their congress in March to add to the top job as MHC president he assumed in 2015. 

He must be commended for wiping out MHC’s RM2.6 million debt and putting them back in the black within a year of taking office.

As he looks back at almost a decade of service to SHA, there’s one shortfall that induces regret.

"I couldn’t bring Selangor back into Division 1 of the Razak Cup,” he lamented.

"I really hope at the competition in October this year, Selangor fight for promotion. That is one of the priorities of the new committee.”

Subahan had said he would step down when a suitable candidate comes along and found such a person in Ganesh Shanmugam, who is a successful businessman and was previously competitions committee chairman.

"I have known Ganesh for a long time and he has no vested interest,” vouched Subahan.

"His role is to continue the good work we have done and I have faith he will take Selangor hockey to greater heights.”

SHA office bearers

President: Ganesh Shanmugam

Deputy president: Prof S. Shamala

Vice presidents: Kunaseelan Senathirajah, Kuganeson Poologasingam, Gurdip Singh Mann, Nor Aida Hassab, J. Elangovan

Council members: A. Chandra Rajan, Rohayuddin Adul Rashid, Steven Asecalin Fernendez, M. Karunakaran, P. Balamuraly