Ponjong, (pidjar.com)–Currently, the Indonesian football audience is again enlivened by the AFF-U19 group phase qualification event. Interestingly, in this event, one of the Gunungkidul footballers was selected to take part in defending the Indonesian national team. In fact, Hokky Caraka Bintang Brilliant, a 17-year-old youth from Padukuhan Susukan 1, Genjahan Village, Kapanewon Ponjong has played as the spearhead of Shin Tae Yong’s squad. Although he did not have time to score, several times Hokky who had been contracted professionally by the League 1 team, PSS Sleman was able to tear apart Vietnam’s defense.
To pidjar.com, Hokky’s father, Ribut Budi Suryono, before finally being selected in the U19 Indonesian National Team, his son had a long journey in his career. He himself is very grateful for the achievements of his son who can defend the Indonesian U19 National Team in the AFF U19 Cup in 2022 and even if his performance is satisfactory, he has the potential to also defend the Indonesian National Team in the U20 World Cup in 2023.
“When I was little, I liked to hug the ball when I was sleeping, but at that time I didn’t monitor it because I was right overseas,” he said when met by reporters, Sunday (03/07/2022).
When he was in 3rd grade, Hokky was then enrolled in the Handayani Football School (SSB). That’s where Hokky’s abilities began to be honed. The coach’s eyes in seeing Hokky’s development while at SSB Handayani were quite observant. Budi said that he had even been called specifically by the coach who revealed Hokky’s great talent in the field of football.
Moments later, teenage Hokky continued his education at the KKO Playen Junior High School. By entering this sports school, Budi hopes that Hokky’s abilities can be further sharpened there. Hokky’s ability when he was in junior high began to attract a lot of coaches. Hokky is often included in various competitions.
Budi, who is increasingly enthusiastic about supporting his son’s potential, then invites Hokky to continue his education at KKO Sayegan High School. He himself always takes and picks up his children when they go to school.
“Starting from KKO Middle School in Playen, I received a message that Hokky was talented and told him to be patient, when he was in junior high school the trainers in Jogja began to recognize him and took part in various competitions,” continued Budi.
In 2020, Hokky then joined the Junior Academy belonging to PS Sleman. Not long after entering the academy, four months later Hokky took part in the selection of the third Garuda Select Team. As a result, he was chosen as the player who will strengthen the Garuda Select team to undergo intensive coaching.
“Actually, in 2014 they passed the Arema Malang selection, but they were not taken. He was recruited by the Junior team at PS Sleman for about 6 months, then in August 2021 after returning from Garuda Select, he was signed by a professional contract with PSS Sleman,” he explained.
Hokky was re-elected in the fourth Garuda Select player from December 2021 to May 2022, on that occasion he was trained so that his abilities were sharper and developed. Garuda Select itself is a coaching program for young Indonesian soccer players in Europe. It is hoped that this coaching can hone the abilities of each player and create great players in the field of football.
“Coming home from there, I continued to get a call for a competition in France, after that, the U19 Indonesian National Team was called to fight in the 2022 AFF U19 Cup,” he said.
He explained that the striker position occupied by Hokky at this time was actually not the initial position of his career in football. Initially, Hokky played in the stopper position in defense. However, on the advice of a number of coaches, then Hokky changed his position to a striker and developed until now.
As a parent, of course, he hopes that Hokky will not feel proud of what he has achieved. He always instills the values of humility and never gives up to achieve his goals.
“In the past it was a stopper position, so the striker was only about two years ago. My hope is that Hokky can answer people’s expectations in the match later,” he explained.
According to him, Gunungkidul Regency has a lot of potential for competitive athletes in various sports fields. It’s just that the high potential is not accompanied by good athlete management so that it is not uncommon for potential athletes in Gunungkidul to be neglected.
