For hockey players, jobs drying up

Uthra G Chaturvedi

For long hockey players in India had only a secure employment with the public sector or the government to look forward to as their reward for playing the game. But going by recent trend, it seems that too may cease to be an option soon.

Consider this: Air India’s last recruitment in hockey was in 2008 (Shivendra Singh being one of them), while Punjab Police, perhaps the strongest team in domestic hockey not long ago, has taken two players in the last three years. Sides such as Canara Bank, PSB, PNB and IOB that at one time vied for the national championship now hardly have teams as they rope in few hockey players.

Punjab Police, which along with AI once formed a constant feeder line to the national team, doesn’t participate in any competition any more, except the All India Police Games. And considering that Jugraj Singh, now a coach with the national team, still ends up being the player of the tournament there, speaks volumes about the lack of new players.

“Jobs nahi hain to players kya karenge. Recruitment bahut zaruri hai, sirf team banana ke liye nahi balki naye players ko hockey me rakhne ke liye (Recruitment is very important, not only for having a team but also ensure players stick to hockey without worrying about their future),” says Jugraj.

Few teams

PSB, which also has the current Punjab coach Baljit Singh Saini on its payroll, lifted the trophy when the nationals were last held in 2006. PNB had an academy at the National Stadium (along with Air India) that fed the national squad and gave the players employment too. Both banks have all but vanished from the hockey scene now.

The only ones now giving any hope to the players are the oil sector companies, but even there, the numbers have certainly decreased. From almost half a dozen appointments per year a few years ago, now only 1-2 players are given jobs every year.

Ageing players

An offshoot of not recruiting new players is a rise in the average age of players — and a dip in the overall performance of those teams. In the absence of new blood, Air India’s age is showing in their performance. Dhanraj Pillay has been playing for more than 20 years, Sameer Dad for 17 years and the likes of Vikram Pillay, Arjun Halappa and VS Vinaya have been around for at least a decade.

“Well, they have to make new recruitments, there is no denying that. I have been playing for 17 years, there is a limit to every sportsperson’s capability. Maybe one year more at the most, then I may quit, though I haven’t decided yet. But what after that? Dhanraj is past 40, the other good players are nearing 30. How long can you expect us to keep doing all the running around for70 minutes,” says Dad, the team’s captain for quite a few years now despite suffering spondylitis a decade back that cut short his international career.

Ramesh Nambiar, joint secretary of Air India Sports Control Board, while admitting that there was a break in recruitment in the past few years, explained that it was because of the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India.

“There was a lot of confusion post merger, there were a lot of things that needed to be tidied up. But we have now a new recruitment policy in place that will come into effect in the next few months. Under that, we will be recruiting three players from every sporting discipline every year and that should help get youngsters into the fold,” he said.