Friday 03 / May / 2024
Muscat: Dwindling interest has been a major concern for hockey in Sultanate of Oman and resurrecting the fortunes of the game is the prime agenda for the newly-elected Oman Hockey Association (OHA) Chairman Talib Khamis Al Wahaibi.
The OHA chief, a man of discipline and determination, has already drawn out a strategy to revive the game to the glorious past. Speaking to Times Sport in an exclusive interview, Talib Al Wahaibi (more fondly called Captain Talib for having served as a sailor) said: "Maybe I have just taken over the responsibility as head of the OHA board, but I have already chalked out my vision and very soon will work towards turning it to reality."
A hockey player in his prime, Talib Al Wahaibi, stressed the need of luring young talents to develop the game and make it regain the popularity of the past.
"My first goal will be to reach out to the schools of the country and introduce the students between fifth and ninth grades to the game of hockey," he stressed.
"The students will be nurtured, trained and provided with all facilities to hone their skills under the umbrella of sports clubs, which are available in all regions," he added.
"The need of the hour is young talents," he opined. "I will make sure that the grassroots hockey will flourish once again so that we can build and provide strong pool of talents for the national cause."
"We must understand hockey is the only sport and the oldest too apart from football to organise the prestigious His Majesty's Cup and my aim is to work with determination to get back all the 24 clubs to the playing field," he said, thanking His Majesty the Sultan for the continued patronage for the sport.
Talib Al Wahaibi also thanked the previous board for the efforts they have done and "I will continue from where they have left."
Stressing the need of better co-ordination with the Ministry of Education, Talib Al Wahaibi said: "My outlook is to revive the age group competitions with participation of schools."
He said that each school will be provided with equipments and the services of qualified coaches.
"The clubs of the region can then adopt the school teams and enter the age group (U-16 and U-18) tournaments. I hope to expand to 30 clubs, who can compete in these tournaments."
OHA's focus will also be on Buraimi Club, which has all the modern facilities for the game and "if schools around that region can be tapped it will be a shot in the arm," he claimed.
'None from Europe'
With Oman gearing up for the Hockey World League Round 2 and Asia Cup next year, OHA is certainly looking for a coach to fill in the void left by the German trainer Oliver Kurtz.
However, the OHA chief said with authority that there is no looking into Europe for a replacement and the next coach will certainly be from the Asian continent, though not divulging from which country the next man will come.
"I don't want to name anyone, but we are going to start the process of looking out for the new coach and I can assure you that we are not looking to Europe," he said.
Talib Al Wahaibi also hinted at more cooperation with top national associations.
"I have started communicating with associations in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to express Oman's interest of enhanced cooperation in hockey, which I am sure can grant more exposure for the national teams," he explained.
Expat, schools hockey
Talib also spoke about his plans to involve expatriates and develop schools hockey across the country. “My plan is to involve all the expat communities in hockey. I want them to come into Oman hockey fold. “Besides our main national championships and league, I would like to have a tournament involving all the expatriates in Oman.”
“I would also like to have a schools tournament involving all the expatriate as well as Omani schools. This will help in creating interest and spreading the game across the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Talib Al Wahaibi said that communication with International Hockey Federation (FIH), Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and other continental federation will be further enhanced so that Oman Hockey's presence will be felt worldwide.
"I am also working on improving the presence of Oman Hockey on social media platforms and an official website will also be launched soon," said Talib Al Wahaibi.
All said and done with focus of the new OHA regime falling on unearthing young talents, the future augurs well for the game in the Sultanate.
