K Arumugam
Introduction of Women’s hockey when it hosted the Asian Games in 1982, helping the International Olympic Committee to organize West-boycotted Moscow Olympics women hockey event and now the organization of first-ever commercial league for women are three historic milestone efforts of India in promoting gender parity in the world of field hockey.
Former Indian Hockey Federation President Ashwini Kumar has always promoted Women’s hockey in a big way.
India’s Ashwini Kumar was an Executive member of IOC when the West decided to boycott the Moscow Olympics. Combined with the zeal of the then IOC president Spaniard Samarach, Ashwini Kumar took it upon himself to bring required number of nations to carry out both the men’s and women’s teams for the successful completion of hockey even at Moscow. He was then the Sr Vice president of the Federation de Internationale de Hockey (FIH) too. He could not convince the FIH to stand above politics of the day but saw to it hitherto little known hockey nations such as Rhodesia, Tanzania to send their women’s teams.
For the efforts, inter alia, he was soon promoted as Vice President of the IOC too by the grateful Juan Antanio Samaranch, the saviour of IOC.
Two years later, India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accepted the Indian Olympic Association’s request to include Women’s hockey in the realm of Asian Games, where men’s were taking part since 1958. India not only hosted the Asian Games in 1982 but also won the inaugural edition at the picuresque Shivaji Stadium.
Dilip Tirkey revived the HIL and introduced Women’s Hockey India League.
Present day generation of hockey administrators did not lag behind. Veteran player Dilip Tirkey has been a staunch advocate of sound domestic system of competition. His zeal saw the re-launch of the Hockey India League last fortnight. Significantly, he was successful, despite initial hiccups, team pull outs etc, the women’s HIL has started at Ranchi with Odisha Warriors defeating Delhi SG pipers at the Jaipal Singh Munda Hockey Stadium, Ranchi.
WHIL is the first commercial League for women in the hockey world. Indians can walk heads held high for conceptualizing and executing it.
2nd Pic: Courtesy HIL