The rot starts at the top: Pargat Singh
For a game like hockey to prosper in our country, the most important thing is parental guidance, a healing touch. The administrators should not treat players like their servants, the way it has been all these years. The other big problem with Indian hockey – be it the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) or the current ad hoc body of Hockey India – is that the officials are not in sync with the ground reality.
They have to realise that the biggest stakeholders are the players and what matters is the game that they churn out. If the product is poor, if grassroots game is not taken care of, there will be no takers for hockey.
These officials also don’t know how to sell the game, how to create spectator value. They are worried only about their seat of power, their aims, their objectives. Do they listen to what the players want, what hockey needs? Have they bothered to go to small centres, small towns in Punjab, Jharkhnad or Orissa to see whether the game is still alive?
Another issue with our administrators is that they have failed to put a uniform coaching system in place. IHF should have ensured that coaches across the country, at the smallest level, practice the same methods of coaching which modern hockey demands. Well, the team may not be winning many games but the players are still good. It’s just that nobody bothers about them, least of all administrators. Isn’t it shameful that hockey makes headlines only for all the wrong reasons?
SOLUTION:
For the way out, I would say the key word is professionalism. Hockey India should hire experts to handle different aspects – including marketing, PR, TV rights. And make them accountable. Even the honorary officials running the sport should have an idea about modern hockey. Ask the current officials to name the 16 players of the Indian team and they will be clueless. Get well-informed , well-meaning , passionate people into the administration. We have to make a new beginning to survive and grow.