Stickwork – Patience, care are need of the hour

Gurbux Singh

A development of great significance in the Indian context happened when Le andro Negre of Spain replaced Els van Breda Vriesman of the Netherlands as FIH president at the elections held during the hockey governing body’s congress in Los Angeles.

This should be good news for us as the outgoing president had caused much damage by meddling in our affairs. The new dispensation I hope will devote to Indian hockey the patience and urgent care needed for a revival.

The decline of hockey in the country, for me, began in 1976 because that was the year astroturf was introduced. India, champions by far in field hockey, found it difficult to adjust to the new turf.

We could no longer compete with the teams from the west who had the infrastructure and money to ensure they stayed at the cutting edge of hockey.

The question of finances, of where it comes from and how it’s used, is there. But it is the government’s apathy to hockey and other Olympic sports that is to blame for the sad state of sports in India.

The government has failed to provide infrastructure and training facilities. We need close to 40 astroturf surfaces so that the game can be developed at the grassroots level.

But no heed is paid to the repeated requests for the same. Hockey needs a lot of care and nurturing. Attention has to be paid to the requirements of the players and the game has to be promoted. Looking at the way cricket has been suc cessful in the subcontinent it makes me hopeful about hockey.

Passion and commitment, and add to that professionalism, can go a long way in re claiming its lost status as one of the premier sports in the country.

It’s true hockey can’t compete with cricket but the game generates substantial interest in the region. This because I’ve seen a crowd of 40000-50000 attending hockey tournaments in India whereas in Europe a turnout of 10,000 is considered huge.

Indian hockey has the ability to bounce back, it just needs some help along the way. But hope has to contend with despair. And plans keep getting derailed. After unnecessary delays, in causing which the authorities had no small hand, the Beighton Cup was to be finally held between December 20-31.

But a few days back the Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) was informed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that the National Championship would be played from December 20 to January 4. The Beighton Cup was forced to be postponed. BHA agreed and shifted the Beighton Cup to a December 30-January 14/15 slot.

That done they again get a call from IOA, this time to be told that the Nationals may not, after all, be held between those dates. Hence the BHA was free to go with the old dates for the Cup.

This latest episode follows the farce that has been going on over the astroturf that is still lying at SAI awaiting installation.