| Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 18 July 2017 | Asia Samachar |
Boys and girls hit and stop the hockey ball with confidence. Some are good enough they look like the can dribble in the air. Well, almost.
It’s 5pm and the mood is joyful, spirited and alive at Kelab Aman, a Malaysian Sikh sports club with magnificent fields, right smack in the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur.
Look up and you see the evening sun gleaming off the Petronas twin towers, at one time the tallest buildings in the world.
SEE ALSO: Happy Hockey: All for the love of the game
Welcome to Happy Hockey SSU Kelab Aman, a children development programme for kids as young as five.
“I enjoy it. It’s fun,” said 11-year old Raveena Kaur, who has been with the hockey programme for three years.
Raveena and some 70 other children spend about two hours training and playing hockey on Sundays. Another group of Sikh kids are playing futsal and netball.
But it’s no walk in the park to manage the kids. Ask parents and they will tell you how tough it is generally to get them interested in games.
“Keeping them excited is a challenge,” Rubini Arasalingam, one of the coaches, tells Asia Samachar. “We pick up skills along the way from coaching clinics and from the Youtube.”
How did she get involved? Her husband, former Malaysian national hockey player S Kuhan, had common friends at Kelab Aman. They enrolled their son, now 12 years old, in the programme some years back.
“Since I’m here, I got myself involved myself,” she said.
Happy Hockey, which began towards the end of 2013, have participants from the ages five to 16.
About a dozen coaches, headed by former Malaysian national player Kerpal Singh, manage the training sessions.
Interested to join the fun? Call Kerpal 012-2878122 or Sukhjit Singh 017-2133937.
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, here, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]
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