Hockey: SHF chief Mathavan Devadas aims for gold at 2029 SEA Games
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Singapore's Sardonna Ng (second from right) celebrating with Valerie Sim during Singapore's 10-0 win over Cambodia at the 2022 Women's Asian Games Qualifier.
PHOTO: ASIA HOCKEY FEDERATION/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE – Singapore hockey’s gold-medal drought at the SEA Games will hit a three-decade mark in 2023, an unwanted statistic that Mathavan Devadas is keen to erase after he was re-elected as president of the Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF) in September.
After winning a clutch of bronzes and one silver since their triumph at the 1993 Games at home, Mathavan believes that the return of the biennial multi-sport event here in 2029 will be the best opportunity for Singapore to finish at the top of the podium.
The last time the SEA Games were held on home soil in 2015, the men came within a whisker of the coveted gold, losing 4-3 to Malaysia on penalties.
Two years later in Kuala Lumpur, the men’s and women’s teams won three bronzes.
Mathavan had hoped for at least a silver in 2017 and is now looking to cast that disappointment aside as he looks to improve on that result at the 2023 Games in Cambodia – where men’s and women’s field and indoor hockey will be offered again.
But he acknowledged that a lot of work would have to be put in by the athletes and SHF, especially after the country lifted Covid-19 restrictions for team sports
He said: “Two years of the pandemic has set us back about four years... athlete development has been really bad.
“We’re 12 to 18 months behind everyone else who opened up earlier and we can see it when our age-group teams play against other Asian countries and they’re losing by big scores.
“I’m not too bothered about that because the kids can learn how to lose, what they did wrong and come back from that.”
Mathavan had been due to step down in 2022 having served four two-year terms, but the SHF reset its constitution under Sport Singapore’s direction and he became eligible to run for president again.
“When the opportunity for the new term came about, I thought I would have time to plan and do things,” he said, though he is unsure if he have another go in 2026.
To get the national teams ready, the SHF is arranging for more overseas opportunities, including a trip to Cambodia before the SEA Games and September’s postponed Asian Games, for which the women have qualified for the first time since 1994.
Similar training trips and overseas competitions could be on the cards for players aged below 20 as they aim for success in 2029.
A larger emphasis will also be placed on indoor hockey – an indoor variant of field hockey – with a national coach each for the men’s and women’s teams, said Mathavan.
He is also aiming to raise the level of technical officiating by having more exchange programmes with other countries.
Singapore Hockey Federation chief Mathavan Devadas in a 2020 photo. Mathavan is unsure if he would run for president again in 2026.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
These plans “will not be cheap” but he added that the federation has over $1 million in reserves accumulated over the last two years from donations and the One Team Singapore Fund.
“If we want to make this happen, we have to spend. It’ll be expensive because... to improve, we have to travel to be more competitive, so it won’t be easy,” he said.
“But if we work hard and follow our plan, I’m confident we’ll get there.”
A facility with an outdoor pitch and four indoor courts will be opened by Sport Singapore in Jurong in early 2023, giving the national teams more venues in which to train.
This will also tie in with the SHF’s plans to promote the indoor six-a-side game to the community – there are about 3,500 players across 41 clubs and 45 schools. These include starting a learn-to-play programme at the new facility and running indoor hockey tournaments for schools.
Highlighting that indoor hockey is key for player development as beginners can pick up more skills and improve their spatial awareness, Mathavan said: “We can grow the base from there and encourage athletes to train more and show them that the 2029 SEA Games is the target.
“The attraction of a Singapore SEA Games is a major thing for younger athletes. We saw the enthusiasm in 2015, which caused an influx of young and old athletes wanting to represent the country.
“That has to sink in and we have to keep reminding them that in 2029, they get to play in front of their family and friends and it’ll be a big event here.”
