00:00 Minister Belia and Sukarno Hanayo announced a $30,000 grant
00:03 for the national hockey ice squad that will be active
00:07 in the Asian and Oceania Cup under 18 years in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
00:11 The plan is to provide an exclusive training ground for the team.
00:17 To support their efforts,
00:22 I have announced a $30,000 grant
00:25 to cover their expenses
00:30 and help reduce the costs of their parents.
00:35 I would like to say to the government that
00:36 their hard strive is to find a permanent training ground for them.
00:44 Because ice hockey is not a place that can be used as a training ground.
00:49 So, the search is ongoing
00:51 and I hope they will get a permanent training center soon.
00:55 Because with a training ground,
00:58 it will definitely reduce their costs
01:00 and will help to have more certainty for the association
01:09 to help move this sport forward.
01:11 Meanwhile, the captain of the team, D. Jun Hsian,
01:14 did not set a single target.
01:16 Instead, he made that effort as an early warning
01:19 in addition to gaining experience before placing the best team in the future.
01:24 The preparation so far is really good.
01:28 We've had a few months in training already.
01:30 We have a joint training as well with the men's teams
01:33 to up the intensity a bit and to also learn from them.
01:36 Some players, even a few players here,
01:39 they come down all the way from Johor just to train.
01:41 So, I think that goes to show how much dedication our players really have.
01:45 We train about two, three times a week
01:48 and it's usually in really late nights.
01:50 It usually goes from 8 all the way,
01:52 ranging all the way to 12 a.m., midnight.
01:54 So, I think our dedication and preparation is really good.
01:58 For your information, the Malaysian Hockey Ice Squad
02:01 will be competing for the title of the 9-time Gragasi Champions,
02:04 such as Thailand, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.
