AHF to conduct online seminar for Sri Lankan coaches

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By Susil Premalal

The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) has decided to organize an international level online coaching seminar next month for the benefit of officials in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

At least 15 coaches from Sri Lanka are expected to participate in this programme.

The AHF in association with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) are conducting an online coaching seminar today but since it was restricted to one participant from each country, on a request made by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it was decided to hold a separate programme in the first week of June.

Meanwhile with the country gradually returning to normalcy following the coronavirus pandemic, the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation (SLHF) is gearing to conduct the four national level tournaments which were postponed, before December 31, SLHF President P. Vishwanathan said. The four tournaments are Senior National Championships for men and women, Junior Nationals for women and the Inter-Club Championship.

The Senior National Men’s Championship was scheduled to be held in Matale in March while the Senior National Women’s Championship was to be held in Wennappuwa in April, but both tournaments had to be postponed because of the coronavirus. The Asian Men’s Hockey Championship was scheduled to be held in Oman while the Asian Women’s tournament was slated for September in Kazakhstan, but it is likely to be postponed by a few months because of the pandemic. The SLHF is making all efforts to conduct the National Championships at the earliest opportunity in order to a select a national pool with the aim of participating in the upcoming Asian tournaments. The hockey authorities hope to select a national pool of 110 comprising 55 men and 55 women stickers as preparation for the international tournaments.

The federation is also in the process of selecting a national coach and have requested the district leagues to nominate a person of their choice before making a final decision.

Meanwhile the Sports Ministry has decided to extended the term of the national hockey selection committee till July 15. The five-member panel comprises Jagath Balasuriya (chairman), Renu Thanuja Yapa, Ruwan Fernando, Anuruddha Wickramasinghe and Nadin Kudagama.