Saturday, August 01, 2009

UNSUNG HEROES


I spent a better part of the day watching a tournament held in Seremban to honour former hockey player, the late Jispal Singh who died in an accident in 2006. The tournament, being held for the second year of running was organised by friends of Jispal, brothers Keshminder and Daljit from Seremban.

The tournament is catered for those above 36 years and the invitational tournaments saw 10 teams participating. It was`nice to see the likes of the Fidelis brothers Gary and Derek, Ajitpal and Ranjit, Datuk Poon Foke Loke, Colin Sta Maria, Raymo9nd Tio, I,Vikneswaran, Mohd Nor (the 56 year old former RMR player who.is now a successful businesman and grandfather), Harbinder Singh and a host of others,

But one personality caught my eye, William Fidelis, a man who has contributed decades of his life for Negri hockey.

The 74 year old William was frail, recovering from injuries he suffered in an accident two years ago, but still had a lot to talk about todays hockey standards. Neglecting development says William is why we are in the doldrums and who can say he is wrong? This is a man who is on the pitch from 2.30pm daily coaching the youngsters of Negri.

William's fond memory of a tournament was in the Razak Cup in Terengganu in 1991 when he coached NS to defeat the KL side which was represented by 16 national players coached by Sri Shan and Selangor who were helmed by C.Paramalingam.

Before I forget another hockey great Lawrence van Huizen celebrates his 79th birthday today, Happy Birthday Oji.