Proud MP academy savours hockey girls’ feat

Biswajyoti Brahma

NEW DELHI: “Work hard, you are destined for greater things,” hockey coach Paramjit Singh once told a starry-eyed girl from Manipur. The girl, Sushila Chanu, took the words to heart and in just a couple of years made it to the junior national side.

Now, Chanu is busy leading a bunch of young girls in rewriting history at the junior women’s World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany. The girls made the semifinals of the event, a first for India.

“When Sushila came from Manipur, she did not even know how to hit the ball or push it properly. But we could see her strength and asked her to work hard on her game. We told her that she could be an even better player than the one India international who was training with us at that time,” said Paramjit, who trains youngsters at the Madhya Pradesh Girls Hockey Academy.

Paramjit is thrilled to see his ward’s performance in the World Cup where six girls from his academy are representing the country. “The girls are very happy with their performance. They have worked really hard to reach this level. Some of them have not gone home for a couple of years so that they could train without a break,” he told TOI.

Paramjit recalled the days when the academy was formed in 2006 for scouting talented players and provide them basic training. “The government of Madhya Pradesh started the academy when Yashodhara Raje Scindia was the sports minister in the state. It came up at a time when hockey’s base in MP was eroding. In the first batch, 24 girls were picked on an all-India basis. They were provided boarding, lodging, gym facilities along with education by the state government. Now, the number of trainees has increased to 52.”

On how the academy picks inmates, he said: “The only thing we stress on is if the girl is fit enough to play hockey. After that we provide her with all the training. Earlier, we had 50 per cent reservation for Madhya Pradesh players. Now that quota has been increased to 90 per cent.”

Paramjit said that performance of the girls in the World Cup was no fluke. He added, “There are no jobs for women players apart from the ones offered by the Railways. And very few states like MP and Haryana are doing something for them. Believe me, if they are provided with jobs, they can win us medals in the Olympics.”