Olak continue to be the hotbed of young hockey players
OLD La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) are one of the most successful hockey clubs in Malaysia.
Since their inception in 1995, Olak are among the pioneer clubs in the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL).
And they did quite well to win the title three times.
They have also produced several national players since 1998 and among them are Roslan Jamaluddin, defender Mohd Amin Rahim and midfielders Mohd Madzli Ikmar and Reduan Ponirin.
Roslan played a pivotal role in helping Malaysia win the silver medal in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
Skipper Madzli led the national team to a silver medal in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games which saw Amin scoring six goals from penalty corners.
After retiring from the game, Amin and Madzli went on to become coaches.
Amin guided the Malaysian men’s indoor team to the gold medal in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.
A Tenaga Nasional employee, Amin is currently the national team assistant coach at the ongoing Asia Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Madzli is coaching the Negri Sembilan junior team.
Eric Koh, who played for Olak in 2005, is an international umpire and works as a pilot with Malaysia Airlines.
One person who has been loyal to the club since their debut in the MJHL is Joseph De Silva, who has been managing the club for 23 years.
Joseph said Olak are indebted to their first president Datuk Jeffrey Ng Keng Keong who gave them the green light and financial support to feature in the MJHL in 1995.
The club not only rope in young players throughout the country to play in the Under-19 national league, they are also given the opportunity to study in local colleges.
With the help of PKT Logistics (a trading company in Port Klang), they have given out scholarships to study at the Peninsula College in Shah Alam since 2014. The club also provide job opportunities for the players.
“Our objective is to train the youngsters and then expose them in the MJHL. Our efforts have reaped dividends as a number of our players went on to represent the state and national team,” said the 62-yearold Joseph.
“We must thank PKT Logistics and Century Logistics for their continued support through the years not only in sponsoring the club but also in providing scholarships and job opportunities for our players,” said Joseph.
“We are happy with the response from players who want to play for us in the MJHL. Olak will continue to hire players as our objective is to nurture them not just to become better players but also better human beings,” added Joseph.