No hockey training in Major Dhyan Chand sports complex

Nikhila Pant & Suruchi Sharma, TNN

On Tuesday evening, India’s national sport – hockey – plunged into a controversy when members of the national hockey team rejected the cash reward of Rs 25,000 which was offered to them on their return to the country after winning the inaugural Asian Champion’s Trophy in China.

While the Hockey Federation and sports ministry wrangled to pass the buck, by evening, the amount had been revised to ’25 lakh for the entire team, which means ‘1.5 lakh for every player.

Much before the ‘windfall’ of ’25 lakh, captain Rajpal Singh said, “The federation has failed to meet our expectations. This is not the way to treat the national players. The money should be better not just for the motivation of the current crop of players, but also for the future generations who’d like to take up the national sport.”

Singh made a valid point since the difference between the number of youngsters queuing up to get into cricket academies around the city is far greater than them wanting to learn to play the national game. According to sources, some of the top cricket academies in Delhi register almost 15-20 new students every week.

CK Khanna, vice president of Delhi and District cricket Association, told DT, “DDCA holds trials for Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 groups. While for getting through the latter two, the aspirants have to pass many criteria, for Under 14, open trials are held. And almost a thousand youngsters appear for them.”

Gurpreet Singh of Harry Cricket Academy said, “Seeing the kind of money these cricketers are making these days, parents want their children to become cricketers. We get calls from parents of kids as young as five years checking if we’ll take them in the academy. Hockey mein itna paisa aur naam nahi hai naa.”

An official at the Major Dhyan Chand Sports Complex at Ashok Vihar on the condition of anonymity said that the complex offers training and coaching in sports like cricket, karate, badminton, etc, and that they don’t have any provision for coaching hockey at the complex.

“We don’t teach hockey here. For that people can go to Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, India Gate and get coaching. Yes, this is a sports complex, but we don’t provide any training in hockey, we cater to other sports.”

When asked why, the official merely said, “Starting se hi nahin thi yahan hockey ki training.”

Ironically, the sports complex is named after a hockey legend and the complex doesn’t offer any training in the same sport. “Ab log nahi aate toh training deke kya karenge. People come here for coaching in cricket,” the official added.

Coach at a hockey academy in Delhi who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “Jo team ke saath hua woh suprising nahi tha. Seeing the miserable state of hockey, who wants to take up the sport as a profession? Youngsters play hockey in schools and that’s the end of it. Though we have youngsters coming to us to get entry into the training camps, but the numbers certainly don’t match to those for cricket academies. Aap Indian cricket team ke saare players ke naam jaante ho, aur unko pehchante ho. But how many Indians can recognize and name Indian hockey players? That’s the difference between the two sports. Interesting, while other sportspersons are also gaining recognition, Hockey remains to be neglected.”