Alumnus helps St Columba with hockey sponsorship
MIRI: A former SMK St Columba hockey player has helped to get hockey equipment for the school.
Shelley Bayang, who is working in Kuala Lumpur, returned here for a short visit recently and secured sponsorship from some Kampung Bersatu, Lambir residents.
“The equipment assistance is to further facilitate the development of hockey in this Miri Division. The school managed to use the equipment for the recently concluded Inter School Hockey Games on May 2- 4 at SMK Riam and the result was encouraging,” she said.
She pointed out the school won the Girls’ Under 18 category and was third in the Boys’ Under 18 category.
Shelley called for more support at the grassroots level for hockey.
“There are great potentials among Miri and Sarawak hockey players These talents should be translated into the Men’s, Women’s national hockey team.
“The recent participation of Elizebeth Epui in Malaysia’s Under 18 Youth Olympic Squad as well as Nurain Azreen and Aziera Zaidil’s absorption into Sarawak’s Under 14 team, are other achievements for Mirians to be proud of,” she said.
She added that the standard of hockey could be further improved with a proper hockey pitch here.
“This is very important to ensure that the players have the right facility to train in and improve themselves, to serve both Sarawak and Malaysia.
“At this stage, the players only depend on concrete surfaces such as tennis courts or basketball courts for training.
“The players’ passion kept them going but the risk of injury is very high. We want to educate our people the right way, hence the artificial pitch is critical for us to move forward,” she said.
Currently the only hockey turfs in Sarawak are in Kuching Division – Padungan, Petra Jaya, and SMK Paku, Bau.
Shelley, together with Janeter Kadir, Linda Liwek Laing, and Daisy Aren Robinson are among the players from Miri Division who have represented the country at various hockey competitions.