The Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a top junior league competition for junior

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

clubs in the Malaysian hockey system. At present also it is sponsored by

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Milo (magazine), ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine * ''Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * Milo (video game), ''Milo'' (video game) * Milo ( ...

and

National Sports Council The National Sports Council (NSC) is the national overseer of the control authorities of 41 different sports in Bangladesh. It is responsible to the Bangladesh Ministry of Youth and Sports and is based in Purana Paltan, Dhaka. History Prior ...

Teams

A record 27 teams will feature in the 2014 Malaysian Junior Hockey League.

Former teams

* Sapura * Polimas * Penang Free School Junior * Kedah HA-MSN Kedah * SMK Tinggi Setapak * SMK Datuk Syed Ahmad * MSN-MSS Sabah * MSS-Sarawak * SMK St. Davids *

St. John's Institution St. John's Institution (abbreviated SJI) or formerly known as St. John's National Secondary School () is a public all-boys school (sixth form is co-ed) and is one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known by ...

* MBPJ *

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* Tunas Muda Pahang * 1MAS Penang

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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in recent times. Hockey is one of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

's major sports. One of the main reasons for the waning popularity of the existing domestic competition was the rise of corporate teams such as

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

, TNB 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. MHL is trying to change that by bringing in regional flavour. It fields teams from traditional hockey bastions such as

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

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

, other areas, as well as from other places where it has got some fan following. The MHC-Milo-NSC Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL) made its debut in 1995.

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 (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Malaysia. 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

Malaysian Women's Junior Hockey League

The inaugural women’s junior league, also an Under-19 event took off in 2016 season. It runs from February 19 to April 10. The league attracted the participation of 14 teams from nine states, with exception of teams from Perlis, Malacca and Sarawak. SSTMI-Thunderbolt lifted the inaugural Women’s Junior Hockey League title with a slim 2-1 win over Kuala Lumpur Wipers in the final.

Girls' team

The league is specifically for boys’ Under-19 league, however few women's team has expressed interest to join the junior league. This includes Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) girls’ team that have submitted their entry to play in the 2013 season. In the 2011 season, the national women’s team featured in the MJHL as invitation team because there was lack of women’s domestic competitions. It was known as MWHA-SSBP in the MJHL that year. Matri, a team from Perlis refused to play against the MWHA-SSBP team on religious grounds and that resulted in Matri being thrown out of the league, fined RM500 and banned for a year.

New features

Players

A team shall consist of maximum of 18 (eighteen) players to be registered with MHF. Out of the above 18, maximum of 3 players can be of foreign origin. At any given point of time minimum 2 players of foreign origin shall be within the field of play during the course of a game. 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 MHF. All the foreign players must obtain International Transfer Certificates from their respective countries and or clubs before signing up with the team in MHL and MHF.

Import players

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

Champions

League

The league champion is crowned by finishing top of the league table of two round robin matches.

Cup

The overall cup is also known as MILO-MJHL Cup due to sponsorship reason.

References

The Star Online January 14, 2014

The Star May 5, 2007

The Star June 26, 2009

External links

* {{Field hockey leagues

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