KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — State hockey teams and clubs have been urged to hire dedicated coaches to train golakeepers so that there can be a wider pool of talent in this department.

Nineties hockey star Mirnawan Nawawi said goalkeepers were an important asset to the national squad but to date there was a dearth of keepers like  S. Kumar. who is already 37 years old now.

However, he said national junior squad goalkeepers Hafizuddin Othman and Hairi Abdul Rahman had their own strengths but to reach the level of Kumar would need more time.

“The goalkeeper is the last man. His talents can determine the fate of a team,” he told Bernama when met on the sidelines of  Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s (Unikl) “A Gesture of Thanks” hockey clinic with players of the national junior team from 1990 to 1993, here today.

Yesterday, the national hockey squad’s chief coach Stephen Van Huizen had said Kumar would not be available for the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh next week due to a serious groin injury.

Hafizuddin and Hairi have been selected to be the goalkeepers for the national squad. — Bernama