KUALA LUMPUR: National men's hockey coach Sarjit Singh will have his hands full this year.
Today (May 22), the Malaysian Hockey Confederation announced that Sarjit will also take charge of the national junior team.
Sarjit is the first Malaysian hockey coach to handle both the senior and junior teams.
The 61-year-old Sarjit, who guided the Speedy Tigers to a fourth place finish at the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, will be assisted by ex-internationals I. Vickneswarawn and Hairi Abdul Rahman.
Selangor HA president Ganesh Shanmugam is the new team manager of the national junior squad.
Sarjit and his senior team will head to Poland tomorrow for the Nations Cup and will only return on June 10.
In his absence, Vickneswaran and Hairi will scout for players to join the national junior squad during the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) from May 24-June 29 and the Malaysia Games in Sarawak on Aug 17-24.
Those selected will be prepared for the Sultan of Johor Cup in Johor Baru in October and the Junior Asia Cup (JAC) in China in December.
The main target is to qualify for next year's Junior World Cup through the JAC.