By ERROL D’CRUZ

This bank team is making a huge statement. The UCO Bank Women’s Hockey Association, participating in the Inter-Department National championship in Kolkata, was set up in 2017 with a dream of women’s empowerment.

“Hockey is the ideal medium” as Subhash Chauhan, a coordinator of the UCO Women’s Hockey Committee, said “to provide a dignified platform to play freely and in an open manner thus making for a good future for the women.”

The team inauguration (r-l) Ritu Rani, Subhas Chauhan, Late MK Kaushik and bank Executives

It’s this vision that keeps the group steadfast and resilient through thick and thin, especially in Covid times that has been disastrous for the team.

“We stopped getting monetary support from UCO Bank when covid struck. As a result we’ve had to turn to well wishers to donate towards the cause of the team and those include farmers who came forward to help,” said Chauhan who, like many of the core support group, dug into their own pockets to keep the show running.

The team was launched in Karnal, Haryana, and along with Sashastra Seema Bal and CRPF, were the first departments fielding women’s teams after the long standing powerhouse Indian Railways.

The team was struck another blow, that of bank mergers which stifled progress and made things more difficult during the pandemic.

But, the dream lives on, according to Chauhan who is hopeful of UCO Bank resuming financial support.

Uco Bank hockey team

He flashed back to inception of the team four years ago. “Our first task was to nurture talent to enable the girls to compete with formidable Railways and eventually earn call-ups for selection to the Indian team.

“We hope that the girls will eventually get jobs in the bank which we believe would be ideal to build their lives after retiring from the game. A bank job holds the hope of transfers to other centres in the country where players may settle down and perhaps even give back to the game in terms of coaching.

Chauhan recollects healthy response when an announcement was made in 2016, calling players to form a team with the aim of empowering women of rural backgrounds to take to sport.

“Trials were held in Sonepat, Mohali, Ludhiana and Bhopal and drew players from Manipur, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra to name a few states.

“Skills were brushed up and very soon the team began to take part in competitions all over the country. The team reached the 2020 ‘B’ National championship semi-finals at Isar, Haryana, won two invitational tournaments and reached the final in two other,” Chauhan said.

Laurels all the way

“The effort to run the team is both social and sporting,” he added. “It’s a course correction for Indian women in sport.”

“The girls in the team are quite well educated. Many are B.Sc. degree holders, speak English and excel in Maths,” added Chauhan who hails from Kurukshetra, Haryana, and had a stint of club hockey in Melbourne, Australia, where he studied management.

“I daresay the mental maths of the girls is good and to excel in a game like hockey, that can be quite handy!

He reeled off a few names he feels will go the distance in the game. “Monishka is a good forward. And remember the name Lalita – she’s another forward and will go places,” Chauhan said.

“Then we have Bhoomi, the right outer, Anjali, the right half and we have in our ranks Gurvinder Kaur who played in the India junior team.”

As for a drag flicker? “Well there’s no one at the moment but we are looking out for one,” Chauhan said.

Given that mental maths is the team’s strength, you can wager that an exponent who can take the shortest – and fastest – route to goal will soon be unearthed