UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), treble winners of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), will enter uncharted waters next year with a new coach and an all-local outfit.
Arul Selvaraj, after nine seasons with UniKL, is now chief coach of the national men's team.
His replacement at UniKL will be either his long-time assistant Saiful Azhar Afendi or new entry Megat Azrafiq.
Thanks to Covid-19, there will no longer be any foreign players for UniKl to depend on to retain their Charity Shield, League title and TNB Cup.
Arul's parting words to UniKL were: "It was the most difficult decision I had to make after spending eight years with UniKL.
"I'm truly saddened to part ways with a team whose players, both local and foreign, showed great discipline, character and commitment on and off the field in every aspect of the game since I was the coach in 2012."
Saiful said UniKL will bank on three players to control key positions in their attempt to defend their titles.
"It will be difficult but not impossible to defend out treble because not only UniKL, but other teams like THT, are also expected to rely on local players this season.
"So it will be a level playing field and UniKL will be depending on three national players to guard key positions and win matches.
"We have Razie Rahim in defence as well as penalty corners, Marhan Jalil in midfield and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin in attack."
UniKL have yet to decide on their chief coach and it will be a toss between current national juniors assistant coach Megat and Saiful.
The MHL is scheduled for Jan 14 to Feb 20, depending on approval from the government.
The men's event will see Sabah, Terengganu HT, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Tenaga Nasional, Maybank, TNB Thunderbolts, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Nur Insafi in action.
In the women's event, Universiti Kuala Lumpur Ladies and Young Tigress will make their debuts while the other teams are PKS Uniten, Police Blue Warriors, Mutiara Impian and Sabah.
