SINGAPORE – Change is afoot at the Singapore Hockey Federation with a new president at the helm after 12 years.

But new chief Aw Bang Hui’s main goal remains the same as that of outgoing president Mathavan Devadas: to grow the base of hockey players after participation was hit by Covid-19.

Aw, who was previously deputy president, was elected unopposed for four years at the SHF’s annual general meeting on Sept 7.

The 43-year-old engineer also aims to boost youth development, increase coaching capabilities and attract more sponsors.

He explained his plan: “You grow your base of players, then you level up your coaching to help make players better, and that makes more people want to be associated with the sport.

“The effects are not going to be seen immediately but we need to do this because it’s critical as a sport that we build the base and try to sustain it.”

Describing the pandemic as “very painful”, Mathavan said the sport is still reeling from its effects.

The 66-year-old lawyer said: “2019 was high point for us. We had increased participation numbers and were riding high. But the pandemic affected all of it.

“Some schools and clubs closed their teams because cost was an issue. It’s taking a while for us to build up our capacity and we still have not overcome it.”

Before 2020, the SHF’s men’s league had five divisions with seven to 10 teams per division.

When the league resumed after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, each division had just five to eight teams.

Participation in the women’s league fell from 19 teams in two divisions to 11.

The 2026 leagues now have 37 men’s teams across five divisions and 16 women’s teams in two divisions.

The number of teams in ...