Shahbad hockey girls perform without rewards

CHANDIGARH: Shahbad near Kurukshetra in Haryana has earned the name of cradle of women’s hockey in the region. Surender Kaur, who currently heads the women’s hockey team, Rani, the star scorer of Indian team, Sandeep, the girl with golden stick are among the nine players attending a national camp being held in Hyderabad for the SAF Games.

Despite being the captain, Surender, the only player who has been able to make it to World XI, is yet to find any job in Haryana police. She is currently employed as LDC in the Railways.

Like Surender Kaur, Rani’s family is yet to come out of financial constraints as her father continues to ply a horse cart. Despite the indifference, it is these girls’ love for the sport and the nurturing ground, that helps them carry on in face of odds.

Their condition contradicts what Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a press conference on Thursday. “We have done a lot for sports and recently we have released a grant of Rs 1 crore to Hockey India. So far the problems of the players from Haryana are concerned, we have drawn a comprehensive policy and their problems would be taken care of,” he had said.

It appears that he is not aware of the ground realities. The players, their families and coach blame babudom for the present problems. “Except for Mamta Kharab and Sardara Singh, none of our players has been inducted in Haryana police or any other department. Except for Indian Railways, no one has given employment to our girls who have been playing the game for the past 20 years. Take the case of Surender Kaur, captain of Indian hockey team. She continues to be an LDC with Railways,” Baldev stated.

He recalls the moments when locals, family friends of players and senior players had to pool in money to meet certain requirements. Inquiries revealed that Rajwinder Kaur, Balwinder Kaur, Simarjeet Kaur, Gurpreet Kaur, Ramaneek Kaur and vice-captain Suman Bala had to be sent back home for corrective knee surgeries from camp.

Except for Anil Dhantori, Shahbad MLA, who himself is sportsperson, no one has come forward to extend monetary help for surgeries of these girls. Otherwise every surgery costs somewhere between Rs 70,000-90,000. Had there been medical insurance, these problems could have been sorted out, the coach maintained. “The diet charges have increased after the hockey nursery was declared an acadamy. We are waiting for a grantso that we start a hostel here,” he added.