Malaysia

Former national hockey coach Paul Lissek will return to handle the development programme for the National Sports Council (NSC) and to work with the coaches in the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM).

Lissek is now with the Tianjin Province team on a six-month stint to prepare the players for the All-China Games in October.

He will begin his work with the NSC in November. The German was the national team chief coach from 2001 to 2004. Before that he was also responsible in helping Malaysia win a silver medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Former NSC director general Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad confirmed yesterday that Lissek has been hired as a development coach and will help with hockey training in schools.


Former national coach Paul Lissek (right) has been hired as a development coach and will help with hockey training in schools.
“We have spoken to the Education Ministry and also the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) about Lissek's employment. He will work with the NSC and also the schools.

“We believe that he will be able to put in place a development structure at the school level and also help unearth potential national players for the various age group teams.

“We have seen him work with our Tunas Cemerlang and also the state level talent identification programmes while he was the national coach. We are happy with his work. He will start here in November after his commitment with the Chinese provincial team ends in October,” said Mazlan, adding that Lissek's appointment was done before his retirement last week.

Lissek's term as national coach was terminated after the Madrid Olympic qualifying failure in 2004 where Malaysia failed to make the cut for the Athens Games.

Mazlan added that Lissek would also be allowed to work as consultant to the national team if the MHF required his services.

“There is no problem in sharing Lissek with the MHF with regards to the national team.

“He can also act as a consultant due to his vast knowledge in the international arena. But I stress that his main task will be to help develop the talents in the schools,” he said.

Lissek just recently acted as consultant to the National juniors team, which played at the Junior World Cup in Rotterdam. The Malaysians finished 10th in the 16-team competition.

Mazlan said that Lissek is also a master FIH coach and his expertise in the area can also benefit the MHF in moulding more coaches.

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