Jude Menezes, former India goalkeeper, is upbeat about the New Zealand Premier Hockey League set to commence on August 20.

The league promises a lot for everybody, according to India’s goalkeeper at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“We have received some funding to carry out an event to feature on Sky TV (equivalent to Star TV in India) so Hockey New Zealand decided to get 80 of our best athletes together (men and women) and hold a competitive four-team tournament,” he said from Auckland.

The tournament will boost activity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which had brought sports to a standstill.

“The league will provide our hockey fans some competitive hockey live on TV, help fill our stadiums and satisfy our fans as entry is free.

“It will also provide interesting content for Sky to broadcast,” Menezes, 49, added.

New Zealand has been doing better than most countries, devoid of community based Covid-19 cases for 100 straight days.

“We have been operating normally since June and are busy with our local leagues and both National programs have also been in training,” he said reflecting on the situation in New Zealand.

According to Menezes, who is Assistant coach of New Zealand women’s team looking after defence and goalkeeping, it would help Kiwi teams gain competitive advantage against the rest of the world as a lot of countries are not yet back to normal so are unable to train.“These games will provide us a good look at our athletes before we announce both National squads for 2021,” he said.

“Rugby and Netball have conducted similar style competitions with great success as crowds have been starved of international sporting action so are making the most of the opportunity by the next best thing to an international event. Netball have had record crowds for a domestic event in some venues,” Menezes observed.

Menezes, who migrated to New Zealand in 2002, believes such a league would do very well in India once the situation improves.

“It would be a great opportunity to conduct a tournament, maybe on a much larger scale with 6-8 teams,” he elaborated.

“They could balance the teams equally with all the current national team players divided equally among all teams and then have a draft system to fill in the other numbers. “It could be based on similar lines as the Hockey India League. India has great depth so I feel they could easily field at least six good teams and have a very competitive tournament,” Menezes said.

He reckons that the sport’s popularity and the number of people watching on TV, a league of this sort could be conducted without spectators.

“It would be great for the players to keep preparing for the postponed Tokyo Olympics if it does happen,” Menezes enthused on the month-long league.