Big push needed to spread hockey to all parts of the country
There isn’t any doubt that Indian hockey has been making swift progress over the past few years, especially after the catastrophic 2012 London Olympics, where the national side had settled for an ignominious wooden spoon finish.
The signs of revival of Indian hockey are very much there for us to see, but there is a ‘bigger picture’ that we need to take note of and address rather get lulled into complacency just because we have beaten all top teams of the world in the last two years. Yes, beating teams like Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium cannot be a flash in the pan nor it can be brushed aside as ‘one off stuff’.
All these famous wins of the Indian men’s team have come notwithstanding the shoddy grassroots infrastructure across the country. It is very easy to sound highly optimistic about Indian hockey with the kind of performance the team has dished out but one also cannot ignore the fact that hockey infrastructure has more or less remained the same over the years, but our national team is infusing an ‘all is well’ feeling with their stupendous wins over higher ranked sides over the last two years.
Let’s look at the bigger picture - the country is blessed with 29 states, but a massive chunk of our national side comprise players from a few states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur. Even in states like Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, which once used to serve as a supply line to the national team, is struggling to stay alive as hockey force in the country in terms of churning out new talents of India material. Such statistics do not really ‘speak well’ of the overall health of Indian hockey at the grassroots level.
There is an urgent need to spread hockey to all parts of the country instead of just staying satisfied with the fact of eight-nine states comprising the national side. It is alarming indeed to think of eight or nine states representing the national team among 29 states – it clearly does not indicate that the grassroots level hockey is progressing in the same manner across all states. If hockey academies are springing up in places like Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand and Odisha, at most other places, the grassroots level hockey is in dormant state.
On paper, Hockey India has so many state units but the big question is – how many state units are really active in terms of promoting the sport in the country? Barring Hockey Delhi, Mumbai Hockey Association, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Odisha, most other state units exist mostly on paper. To be more precise, they exist only for voting in Hockey India polls.
Former Indian captain Pargat Singh vents his frustration over the dormant state of most state units. “If you look at the 36 core probables of the Indian men’s team, you will find that 24 out of 36 are from Punjab. I don’t see anything wrong in Punjab contributing such a huge bulk of players to the national team nor is the state is doling out any favours by contributing so many players to the Indian team. The hockey structure in Punjab is in much better health than most other states, but we need to look at other states in terms of contributing players to the national side. We cannot be depending on eight-nine states to make up our national team for eternity.”
The triple Olympian feels that the state associations must work hard and help Hockey India churn out international-material players. “Barring these eight or nine states, I would like to know what these states units are doing. Do these units exist only for voting? They have to pull up their socks. Just a few states making up the national team does not bode well for the future. We need to have robust academies in all states so that youngsters are nurtured properly and readied to serve the national side,” he observes.
It’s all good to get excited by the resuscitation of Indian hockey (remember – we beat five top teams in 2014), but the bottom-line is all states must have a talent-supplying structure in place. For eternity, we cannot go on and on banking on eight or nine states to make up our national team. Clearly, having a fair contribution of players from all states is something to ponder about for hockey powers-that-be.