The Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) is a top league competition for

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

clubs in the Malaysian hockey league system. There are, at present, seven teams in the Malaysia Hockey League. The competition has been played since 1987. At present also it is sponsored by

Tenaga Nasional Berhad Tenaga Nasional Berhad (, abbreviated as TNB; TENAGA, ), also known as Tenaga Nasional or simply Tenaga, is the Malaysian multinational electricity company and is the only electric utility company in Peninsular Malaysia and also the largest p ...

Current season

The 2023 Malaysia Hockey League is the current season.

Teams

The following teams are participating in 2020 Malaysia Hockey League.

Premier Division

* Terengganu Hockey Team * Tenaga Nasional Berhad Hockey Club * UniKL Hockey Club *

Maybank Hockey Club The Maybank HC are the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) team from Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Players First team Notable players * Muhammad Anuar Ali - 2005 Club officials Coaching and medical staff * Mana ...

* TNB Thunderbolts

Division 1

* Nur Insafi HC * UiTM HC * ATM Airod HC *

Bukit Jalil Sports School The Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) ( ms, Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil, SSBJ) is the first sports school in Malaysia. The school is located at the National Sports Complex compound in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil was opene ...

* Sekolah Sukan Tengku Mahkota Ismail * Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh HC * Politeknik Malaysia

Former teams

* Yayasan Negeri Sembilan HC * DeTas-Yayasan Pahang HC * Kuala Lumpur City Hall HC * Bank Simpanan Nasional HC * MBf * Dolphins HC * Sapura Hockey Club * Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club

History

Origin

The tournament was initiated to revive interest in the sport which was losing spectator interest to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in recent times. Hockey is one of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

's major sports. The field hockey in Malaysia has been the main sport to choose when playing at a high level. One of the main reasons for the waning popularity of the existing domestic competition was the rise of corporate teams such as

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

and

Maybank Malayan Banking Berhad (doing business as Maybank) is a Malaysian universal bank, with key operating "home markets" of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. According to the 2020 Brand Finance report, Maybank is Malaysia's most valuable bank b ...

which do not have a steady fan following. Malaysia Hockey League is trying to change that by bringing in regional flavor. It fields teams from traditional hockey bastions such as

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, other areas, as well as from other places where it has got some fan following.

Founding

The competition was first played in 2000 involving 11 teams. Initiated by Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) with active support from sports channel

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Malaysia. The first season had two tiers division 1 and division 2 but from 2007 season onwards division 2 was scrapped. Except team winning 2006 division 2 championship rest all teams in division 2 were scrapped.

Competition

New format

The new Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) will see 10 teams vying for glory in the top division. Last year, only six teams competed in Division One and Division Two had nine teams. Under the new format, the elite teams will compete in the Premier Division while the rest will vie for a place in Division One. These two divisions are for the Open category. Division Two and Division Three will be for the Under-19 age groups and will comprise teams from last year's

Malaysia Junior Hockey League The Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a top junior league competition for junior field hockey clubs in the Malaysian hockey system. At present also it is sponsored by Milo and National Sports Council. Teams A record 27 teams will feature ...

(MJHL). Last year's top five Malaysia Hockey League teams — Ernst & Young HC,

Sapura HC The Sapura Hockey Club are the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) team from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The best seasons for Sapura team were 2004 & 2005, both seasons they won the double. Players First team Notable players * ...

, Maybank HC, Tenaga Nasional Berhad HC and Nur Insafi HC — will be joined by Jurutera Jentera Letrik HC (JLJ) in the Premier Division. The competitions committee will select another four teams, based on their strength, for the Premier Division. There are plans to enter the National Juniors (the 2013 Project Team) in the Premier Division. But a decision will be made once the format is approved by the Malaysian Hockey Federation's management committee. The Division Two champions will have the right to gain promotion to Division One or they can choose to remain in the Under-19 category. The bottom two teams from the Premier Division]will be demoted while the top two from Division One will go up the following year. Division Two and Division Three will kick off in February 2009 while Division One is slated to start in May 2009. The Premier Division will run from October to December 2009.

Malaysia Junior Hockey League return

After 10 months of merging the

(MJHL) with the senior Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) had decided to separate them. The

thus return on the Malaysia Hockey Federation calendar next year, 2010 with the starting date set for 25 March. It will remain an Under-19 tournament.

Players

A team shall consist of a maximum of 18 (eighteen) players to be registered with the Malaysia Hockey Federation. All 18 players in a team have to be registered with the MHF and need to submit their identity cards before the start of the league qualifying for playing in a team. All Malaysian players currently employed have to be taken on lien for the duration of the league and then be registered with Malaysia Hockey Federation. All the foreign players must obtain International Transfer Certificates from their respective countries and or clubs before signing up with the team in Malaysia Hockey League and Malaysia Hockey Federation.

Import players

There are a number of players from countries other than Malaysia, who have been contracted to play in the league.

List of champions

Champions

By club

Players

Top scorers

Best player

Sponsor

The Malaysia Hockey League become the popular league in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

because the Malaysia Hockey League has been sponsored by the many big companies: *

AirAsia Capital A Berhad, () operating as AirAsia (stylized as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia operate ...

Kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...

* F&N * Grays * Chilis

Prize money

The champions of the league will be given MYR 9,000,000 and also the league trophy which was made in 1987.

Notes

References

The Star May 5, 2007

The Star June 26, 2009

External links

* {{Field hockey leagues 1987 establishments in Malaysia Sports leagues established in 1987

Current season

Teams

Premier Division

Division 1

Former teams

History

Origin

Founding

Competition

New format

Malaysia Junior Hockey League return

Players

Import players

List of champions

Champions

By club

Players

Top scorers

Best player

Sponsor

Prize money

See also

Notes

References

External links