Back on the blue pitch and under blue skies
senior national hockey players walked into the stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday, looking like they had just come out of underground World War II bomb bunkers after the all clear siren was sounded.
There was the SOP to be followed diligently before they could enter the stadium and look up at the clear blue skies and start hitting the ball as hard as possible.
It was about 5pm, and some of them seemed scared like on the first day of kindy, some happy to be among friends again, and some walked in with blank faces.
But by the time training ended at 7pm, they looked much more comfortable on the blue pitch that was home to them for years before March 18 rocked the globe to its core.
The players had of course, bought food from supermarkets for their families or themselves during the height of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
They had also dined at mamak stalls and “crossed borders” back to their kampung when the rules were relaxed recently.
But still, returning to their “work place” was a trepid experience. The players and officials are yet to be tested for Covid19, while Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans had arrived in Malaysia, but under house quarantine.
Oltmans, who reached Kuala Lumpur on Monday, has undergone three Covid19 tests so far. Two in the Netherlands and one upon arrival.
All three tests turned out negative, but immigration rules still saw him miss the first day of training.
Health Ministry regulations were followed to the T yesterday.
The MySejahtera app was scanned to register close contacts, temperatures recorded, no handshakes, and there was the one-metre distancing rule, which includes listening to coaches’ instructions.
It is three to five metres distancing among one another when training, one changing room and toilet for all, drink from your own water bottle and spitting not allowed.
The hockey balls and sticks must be sanitised after training, and the players must leave the stadium immediately after all the above instructions were adhered to.
All these preventive measures would have looked strange and become the butt of paranoid jokes if done during the Malaysia Hockey League final on Feb 28. But now it is a matter of life and death.
After more than three months of home workouts, the players did not look like they have been raiding the kitchen refrigerator, and they seemed hungry for action.
The national juniors will be the next to come out and play, on Sunday, and the women the next day.
But they can only train for now, as matches are still out of bounds.
For now, their training is only to regain speed and handling, before getting into full flight again after the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) ends on Aug 31.
Coaches Amin Rahim and Nasihin Nubli were in charge of the 31 players who reported for training. They have only the Asian Champions Trophy to look forward to in Dhaka in November, if Covid-19 doesn’t stick around anymore.