Private but aggressive team,the Namdharis
Many things separate Namdhari hockey team from the rest in our domestic hockey scenario. They are strictly veggies, live a humble life. But they are soldiers to the hilt on the fields. Their mode of living and verve in fighting on the hockey fields present another kaleidoscopic view that makes up Indian hockey.
Namdharis, who go by their spiritual leader Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji, are a sports buff, and the Guruji inspires them take up sports. Namdharis hockey team was thus born in the early 80’s.
And when a flourishing Namdhari Seeds Company came into existence a decade later, it proved to be a boon for hockey sport.
They don’t eat meat, chicken, beef or eggs for strength; they start their day with milk, butter, almonds, soaked grams, instead. But on field, they are full-pledged warriors. When they are in any tournament, they make it eventful.
Namdhari Seeds spends a whopping sum in the range of half a crore rupees each year in the team.
The significance of the team is, this is the lone private team in India.
This team is also well followed among the sect. At any time if one come across a few Sikhs dressed in white kurta, white pyjama and turban in the same hue, you are sure that Namdhari match is going on.
Its chief patron Thakur Uday Singh, Managing Director of Namdhari Seeds, is a passionate hockey fan, played hockey in his formative years. His obsession for Hockey can be judged by the fact that he often found on the turf sidelines watching Namdhari matches.
Unlike the other big names in Hockey, Namdhari picks toddlers from their Hockey nursery in the village of Srijeevan nagara, Sirsa, Haryana. The potential ones are taken forward to Sri Bhaini Saheb, Ludhiana. A pocket money up to Rs. 10k per month, good student life, boarding, lodging and a synthetic turf (gotten from SAI, Bangalore at throw away price of Rs. 10 lakhs) is what waits for a potential player who happens to make it to this Ludhiana based hostel.
The Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has promised them a dream – dream of laying synthetic turf in Sirsa, their dear Hockey nursery.
Training from May to February, Namdhari Hockey team plays not only in domestic tournaments but also in tournaments hosted in Canada, US and UK. Non-resident-Indians living in these countries arrange for tournaments like Surrey Cup, Canada, or Cal Cup, US – No other domestic team gets a similar opportunity
Baldeo Singh, one of the coaches at Namdhari Academy, has played for India in the early ‘70s. Deedar Singh, another coach, has represented India in ’92 Olympics. A number of Namdhari have reached the international level, like Harpal Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Harpal Singh, to name a few.
An advocate by qualification, Baldeo Singh, a NIS-certified coach, subscribes to manuals from Canada to keep himself abreast with the developments and trends in modern Hockey.
Namdhari expect their team to win around 3-4 tournaments in a year. There have been operational challenges too for the Namdhari Hockey team. Players dropping-out for job or career opportunities remain an ongoing struggle for them.
And if one recalls, these dressed-in-white Namdharis thronged the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi, during the World Cup 2010.
Baldeo Singh proudly tells, “YES, our whole academy was there for all 14 days.”
This was their tryst with the level that World Hockey has attained. They fell in love with the fast and attacking game of the Europeans and Australians.
Going into every match with the “Do or die” motto, Namdharis foresee their players, Gurmail Singh and Maalik Singh, as their next contributions to Indian Hockey.
The namdhari players are known for grit, and never misses a hockey tournament. In the last Bangalore League, there were only 11 players who could make it Bangalore for the first match, still these 11 players put in their hearts into the match against the MLI who, unlike other games, looked extremely threatening on this day. Playing a 70-minute Hockey game with reasonable quality and without substitutions is not an easy feat by any means. Namdharis managed to steal a convincing draw.