Indian support for good samaratian Spaniards

When Spain take on South Korea on Friday for 5th-6th position, there will be some Indian hearts beating for the Spaniards. A group of nine children from Andhra Pradesh will be rooting for Spanish players, some of who have nurtured their hockey dreams.
The children, members of the hockey academy run by the Rural Development Trust (RDT), have come from Anantapur to watch the World Cup. The academy is promoted by Spanish internationals Santi Freixa and Andreu Enrich, who have set up an NGO called “Stick for India”.

The kids were at the National Stadium on Wednesday to watch the Spanish team practice and met some players, who were sporting logos supporing Stick for Hockey. “There are some players in Germany and Australia too who are supporting our academy. They are sporting logos on their sticks,” said P. Johnson, the teacher accompanying the children.

The RDT is also planning to lay a synthetic turf at Anantapur for which it’s trying to get support from the Sports Authority of India. SAI however hasn’t shown much interst, so the RDT is thinking of approaching the government.