Malaysia Hockey League
| Sport | Field Hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| No. of teams | Division 1: 6 Division 2: 10 |
| Country |
 Malaysia
|
| Most titles | KL Hockey Club (8 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | Astro Arena |
| Official website | tnbmhl |
The Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) is a top league competition for field hockey clubs in the Malaysian hockey league system. There are, at present, seven teams in the Malaysia Hockey League. The competition has been played since 1987. At present also it is sponsored by Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
The following teams is participating in 2016 MHL.
The tournament was initiated to revive interest in the sport which was losing spectator interest to football in recent times. Hockey is one of Malaysia's major sports. The field hockey in Malaysia as been a main sport to choose when play at high level.
One of the main reasons for the waning popularity of the existing domestic competition was the rise of corporate teams such as Ernst & Young, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Maybank which do not have a steady fan following. Malaysia Hockey League is trying to change that by bringing in regional flavour. It fields teams from traditional hockey bastions such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, other areas, as well as from other places where it has got some fan following.
The competition was first played in 2000 involving 11 teams. Initiated by Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) with active support from sports channel ESPN 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.
The new Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) will see 10 teams vying for glory in the top division. Last year, only six teams competed in Division One and Division Two had nine teams. Under the new format, the elite teams will compete in the Premier Division while the rest will vie for a place in Division One. These two divisions are for the Open category.
Division Two and Division Three will be for the Under-19 age groups and will comprise teams from last year’s Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL). Last year’s top five Malaysia Hockey League teams — Ernst & Young HC, Sapura HC, Maybank HC, Tenaga Nasional Berhad HC and Nur Insafi HC — will be joined by Jurutera Jentera Letrik HC (JLJ) in the Premier Division.
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