LETTER | At the outset, allow me to make it clear that this article has nothing to do with the recent defeat by our national hockey team to Japan at the Asian Games 2018. This article is not meant to point fingers or blame anyone. Like any other sport, it was just hard luck as the players did their best.

There are, however, some questions that need to be addressed, which should be asked purely and honestly for the development of hockey, a sport which I happen to love and have great respect for.

Do we still have a team of scouts to go around the nation during inter-school, inter-district and inter-state hockey competitions to look out for talent and be called up for state and national selection and training?

I ask this because I wonder whether is it a case where the state or national coach (be it senior or junior) is given a set of players to work with and does not actually have a say in choosing players?

I honestly do not know how the system works. Do future national players have to be enrolled in some sports school as a criterion before having an opportunity to play for the country?

If that is so, I sincerely hope that the sports ministry will look into changing the system and introducing a talent search throughout Malaysia to identify the best of the best, irrespective of where hockey players are studying.

Not everyone who is a good hockey player, when still studying, would go to a sports school.

And it is humbly submitted, that not all of the best of hockey players must necessarily come from a sports school.

I remember when I was growing up, national players did not come from sports schools, but they were from normal, national schools.

And I also remember when I was growing up, national players had their own occupations and jobs and national training was not the only thing on their minds. I would think centralised training would have been the exception.

I would sincerely hope that the sports ministry would look into setting up a scouting committee and give them and coaches a free hand to choose the best of the lot.

Ex-national players like I Vickneswaran are examples of a few that carry out junior hockey development programmes, and the sports ministry should look into supporting and enhancing such efforts.

I am sure without a doubt that there are many ex-national players who do this out of passion. And these individuals would be able to spot a talent when they see it.

The issue is not about the coaches. They are definitely qualified. The issue is coaches cannot do miracles or carry out strategies when they are not in control of choosing players suitable for their strategies. And this is where scouts come in. If you ask me, scouts and coaches are inextricably linked and go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other.

Majulah Sukan Untuk Negara.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.