L N Mittal’s ArcelorMittal to revive Jharkhand women’s hockey team

28 May 2008:
For LNM, it’s Chak De! Jharkhand
JAMSHEDPUR: The huge success of SRK-starrer Chak De! India has perhaps induced the world’s biggest steel maker ArcelorMittal to get serious about hockey, which used to be the religion before cricket mania arrived.

At the outset, L N Mittal-controlled ArcelorMittal has set its sights on reviving the fortunes of the Jharkhand women’s hockey team. Interestingly, the move coincides with the company’s Rs 40,000 crore steel-related investment plans in Jharkhand, which are yet to take off.

ArcelorMittal’s immediate mission is to bail out the Jharkhand women’s hockey team and expand its alliance with the state leadership. After all, gone are the days when Jharkhand women made it to the national hockey side in droves. The present team has merely two representatives from the state.

“Jharkhand and women’s hockey go hand in hand and what better way than to help the cause of the game. We have successfully conducted the block level tournament and we have many more plans. But let us get the proposals and examine them. We will then decide how to proceed,” ArcelorMittal’s CSR manager (Jharkhand) Sumana Chakravarty Dutta told ET.

Recently, ArcelorMittal organised the first-ever block level women’s hockey tournament in the state’s Khunti and Gumla districts, sponsoring the entire event and distributing sport kits to the players. Around 12 teams from were selected, who fought it out among themselves for the top slots. Talented players picked at the grassroots level were selected by the state women’s hockey association for nurturing them further.

“Poor representation of state women in the national women’s hockey squad is no secret, which is why, we wish to nurture more state talent. We are thinking of giving the proposal for setting up a hockey academy which would have its own coach and state of the art infrastructure and help state eves hone their skills. There are even proposals of Mittal’s sponsoring the state team when they play national level tournaments,” said Jharkhand State Women’s Hockey Association (JSWHA) treasurer Suresh Kumar.

Source: Economic Times archive