advantage indian hockey

sadhuji

At last it is official – cricketers have been called upon to lend their charisma to pull Indian hockey out of the deep rut in which it finds itself.

The golden era of Indian hockey was when India bagged the gold in the 1928 Olympics and managed to retain the number one position till 1956 with subsequent brief recoveries in 1964 (Tokyo) and 1980 (Moscow). The complete story of Indian hockey is a tale in apathy, as it were. For the last 25 years, our teams have been unable to prove anything except, probably, the fact that we are excellent losers, that our bureaucracy is as crazy as they come, and that we do not mind spending crores and pretending to boost this beautiful game when in reality what we are doing is creating golden opportunities for unscrupulous elements to flourish and reap the benefits. Therefore, organizing the IPL (Indian Premier League) Hockey matches appear to be a silver lining in the dark and ominous clouds that cover the sports skies in India. A positive step in the right direction. The names assigned to the ten participating teams reveal innovativeness of a high order. Whoever thought of these exotic names deserve praise –

Tier – I - Sher-e-Jalandhar, Bangalore Hi-fliers, Hyderabad Sultans, Maratha Warriors and Chennai Veerans
Tier – II – Chandigarh Dynamos, Delhi Dazzlers, Lucknow Nawabs, Imphal Rangers and the Bengal Tigers

To return to the advantage part – it is heartening to see our cricketers ‘reveal their true colors’ (as the wordings of the sponsor goes!) to promote a game that seems to be slowly but surely heading towards oblivion. We, who taught the game to the Westerners, are now struggling to return to a level of reckoning.

Unfortunately, monetary incentives need to be considerably increased. From news reports it seems that the monetary packages are of the order of 4, 2.5 and 1lakh rupees respectively for the first, second and the third spots!! The top scorer will get Rs 50 thousand and the best player Rs 76 thousand.

There needs to be a serious rethinking on the feasibility of promoting this game with such meager allotments. Compared to what our cricketers earn, these appear to be chickenfeed. In order to appear as International competitors, finance is a very important factor. Where individual landmarks are concerned (like Sania Mirza, Narain Kartikeyan, Viswanathan Anand etc.), those who have the ability to practice in international surroundings obviously have better chances of making it big. Our cricketers play in the British leagues and earn valuable experience that they cannot expect to acquire elsewhere. Such experience works wonders to their achievements.

Why don’t others emulate such ideas?

shere

They can do what they want but hockey in India is dead as a game and it is all down to those at the top.

Sansarpur in Punjab was birthplace of many top players who won top accolades for India. Nothing of note was done to provide the players from here with any facilities.

We have dead wood at the top and on the field. Pillay great player in his earlier years does nothing of note in games and has lost his speed yet is still picked for the national team.

KPS Gill has headed the Indian Hockey federation for long enough without the game improving. The Indian Hockey team win a few mickey mouse events and are greeted at the airport on arrival as if they have won olympic gold.

The whole sporting system in India needs reform. More corporate involvement to develop sports at grass root levels is needed. State involvement has yielded nothing. Whenever anyone wins anything they are elevated to superstar status and given top jobs in Indian police forces etc, they lose the motivation to carry on improving.

Just looking at the boxing team at the olympics last year, made me laugh. The Indian contingent would struggle to fight free from a paper bag but are taken along to the games (after gaining qualification in some obscure boxing qualifiers). The only decent boxer to come from India over the last few years was Muhammed Ali Qaymar. The idiots running amateur boxing in India employ the worst coaches from Belarus and expect improvements.

The Sania Mirza girl wins a few matches against crap opposition (and won a few junior events) and the Indian press think they have found a Serena Williams or Steffi Graff type player. They should face reality and stop building up these no marks to super star status before they have achieved anything.

Besides cricket India has no real sports men or women who are world class (Paes and Bupathi as a doubles partnership were world class).

phantom

I think the problem with hockey is more deep rooted than what is mentioned above. These are only symptoms. When India and Pakistan were ruling the world of hockey in the ground they should also have taken some initiative in the boardroom as well. But I think the officials at that time in these two countries were not as far sighted or assertive.
First the change from grass to astro turf should not have been allowed. Coz it suits the bigger and faster european players. Now hockey is reduced to power play and penalty corner game instead the artistic hockey that dhyandchand and co. played during their hey-days. The second issue was money.. the cost factor in installing and maintaining an astro turf is huge and the developing countries like india couldn't afford it. The whole of India might not be having more than 20-25 astro turfs, which is less than, what a single state in a very small country like holland, has. So as it is now.. at the grass-root level hockey in india is still played in .. well.. grass. So the style and technique of most of the players who go on to play for india is still based on that foundation.
There is still hope, though. Officials of Hockey federation should take a cue from the cricket. they should never forget the mantra "Marketing" and the only oil that keeps the fire of Marketing burning is viewers.. which India with its teeming millions has in abundance. India can still bring a revolution of sorts in the world of hockey. One way to do that is going back to GRASS .
Learn frm what a certain Mr. Kerry Packer did. Start your world championship series on grass, invite clubs and countries to participate in it.. you know that grass is good for technique and skill hockey. advertise that and see the result, build a viewership by hype n hoopla. Make every game a festival and an outing for whole families to go in and enjoy.. With hype will come money and this cycle will take care of itself then.
But who gather the will and money to do all this..?? Hockey needs a Jagmohan Dalmiya or a Kerry Packer.

sadhuji

cricket is a full day game whereas hockey is an hour duration. hence, 'an oiuting for the whole family to enjoy' may not pay dividends.

yes, we do need foresighted people like dalmiya and kerry packer.

phantom

But even basketball and football are of more or less the same duration.... and u know the madness surrounding these games.... it all depends on how they are marketed and what other things the package contains (e.g. cheerleaders, other items, various competitions for the spectators (like best dressed or least dressed kinds...), jes make things more interesting).