S2H Team

The much awaited thing has happened. In a major boost to kick start Indian domestic hockey, the national governing body Hockey India has announced scheduled for various age group National Championships. Earlier, Indian men and women team too set out for Europe. The domestic events are  long awaited ever since Indian government has come up with a massive vaccine program for the country. About 2 Cr. people have already been vaccinated against Covid-19 virus.

The Hockey India National Championships 2021 will start in March this year, after the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the calendar last year with most key events being cancelled.

Domestic competitions this year, however, will resume in a revamped, restructured format which attempts to maximise participation of players with an eye on developing the game in states, union territories, institutional units and academies.

The season starts with the 11th Hockey India Sub-Junior Girls’ National Championship which will be held in Simdega, Jharkhand, from 10 March to 18 March. The corresponding championship for boys will be held in Narwana, Haryana, from 17 to 25 March.

This would be a first for both Simdega and Narwana in terms of hosting a national championship.

The inaugural Hockey India Junior Women’s Academy National Championship will be held from 17 March to 26 March 2021 and the first Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s Academy National Championship 2021 from 17 March to 24 March 2021 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

This will be followed by the 11th Hockey India Junior Women’s National Championship at Simdega, Jharkhand, between 3 to12 April 2021.

The National Championships will be resuming after a gap of a year. In 2020, the 10th Hockey India Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Championship 2020 (A Division) as well as the 10th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2020 (B Division) were held in January and February 2020 while the remaining National championships were cancelled because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

“We are very happy to resume the domestic calendar after the pandemic halted all the sporting events last year,” stated Hockey India’s President Gyanendro Ningombam.

“The season will begin in an all-new avatar with the restructuring of events for sub-junior, junior and senior national championships for both men and women as well as Hockey India registered State Member Units, Public Sector Units/ Departmental Units and Academy Member Units respectively.” he added.

He further stated that members of the Hockey India Selection Committee will be closely observing talent.

“While hundreds of talented players missed out on showcasing their performance last year due to the pandemic, I am hopeful they have will be able to excel at the forthcoming events and perform their best. Hockey India selectors will be closely observing these nationals in order to induct new talent into the national programs,” he said.

HI instructs state members to appoint hygiene officers at each venue: 

While following Hockey India’s SOPs is a must for all participating teams, tournament officials as well as host states, Hockey India has laid emphasis on ensuring guidelines by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as well as respective state governments at the forthcoming National Championships.

Ningombam said: “There is strict emphasis on host states, participating teams and officials involved in the national championships to follow all the protocols and SOPs laid out not just by Hockey India but also the MHA as well as respective state governments.”

“The protocols are different in each state and it is important these SOPs are followed to the T to ensure players’ safety. In order to ensure all these parameters are kept in check and all protocols are met at each of the National Championship, we have instructed all State Members to appoint a hygiene officer at each of the National Championships to assist with implementation of the SOP’s.”

The schedule for 2021 Hockey India National Championships: 

• ·  11th Hockey India Sub Junior Women National Championship 2021, Simdega, Jharkhand, 10 to 18 March 2021
• ·  11th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2021, Narwana, Haryana, 17 to 25 March 2021
• ·  1st Hockey India Junior Women Academy National Championship 2021, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 17 to 26 March 2021
• ·  1st Hockey India Sub Junior Women Academy National Championship 2021, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 17 to 24 March 2021
• ·  11th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2021, Simdega, Jharkhand, 3 to 12 April 2021
•  The dates for the remaining Hockey India National Championships for 2021 will also be announced once there is confirmation from all participating members.