Hockey: The Rise Of The Non-Cricket National Game Despite The Challenges

Ours is a country of variations in everything. We do all the things with a sporting spirit, but tragically our spirit may not be allowing all the sports. In the times where we are so unsure about our national language, we are almost ignoring our national sport, i.e., Hockey. Well, it’s all a matter of subject and also despite all the ignorance by government and committees, Hockey is gearing up for its golden period again. 

We all are mad about Cricket so much (well, there’s nothing wrong about that) that it would not be surprising if we see a protest to make it a national sport. Eventually, we live in a country where former Football captain Sunil Chhetri had to urge their fellow citizens to watch their game a little.

So, let’s talk about how non-cricketing sport like Hockey is treated in India and still it is standing rocky in its way. 

India won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the 1948 Olympics.

Corruption And Scandals In All Sports:

Corruption is one big challenge the authentic sportsperson has to go through in his or her life. All the political parties have their puppets in the Federation for maintaining their presence. Cricket’s foundation is so strong that it’s not directly affecting with small issues but as big it is, there is a definite chance of big gambles and in-genuine intrusion. And then the humiliation at small levels with Hockey are there which are less visible in front of the gigantic IPL scandals, which is a hell of an irony.

Step-motherly Treatment To Hockey:

We have seen it all, from winning the roaring gold medals in Olympic to just losing in the qualifications rounds. The efforts were not lacking, but somewhere the infrastructure, facilities and funds did in the 80s and 90s.

There are plenty of occasions where Hockey teams had to face inhuman behavior or even the lack of basic necessities. Let me point out some of them. India won the Asian Champions Trophy by beating Pakistan by 4-2 in the summit clash in 2011. Hockey India announced a small cash reward of shaming Rs 25,000 for the Asian champions Indian team. And then in 2013, just before a defining hockey event, the entire team was made to sleep in a dormitory of the stadium.

1936 Indian Olympic Hockey Team

We see the big sponsorship deals for Cricket and on the other hand, after clinching the World Cup, Indian Women Hockey team has to return home in auto-rickshaws. Ice Hockey India (Do you know there’s an Ice Hockey team of India?) had to literally beg for funds via the online media for participating the International Ice Hockey Federation Challenge Cup in Kuwait.

Hockey: The Rising Phoenix With Glory:

Indian hockey remained in denial mode through the first few years of the new millennium. There were stories of groups and regionalism that led to the downfall of hockey. The significant reports were pointing at the presence of corruption on every level. But above all what was demotivating was the lack of will to accept the modifications happening in the game and system. The Beijing disaster was the result of all these which we could never forget.

India has made a comeback in the Champions Trophy, the Asiad and the World Hockey League into the recent times. The team has showcased the refreshing attitude and willingness to match the European teams’ speed and robustness in the initial matches at the Rio Games. Post being a goal down to The Netherlands, in the league, where we were playing without a goalkeeper and attacked with eleven players, in the last five minutes, to settling with an equalizer was absolutely moving. It was the time where the result was secondary in consideration, the primary thing which would affect and motivate was the change in the wholesome attitude towards the game and each other.

Indian hockey is gearing up and fighting at every level so we could say that it's in the recovery stage. We have seen the rising spirit whether it's in the forms of 6th position in the 2018 World Cup or 1st and 3rd positions in the last two consecutive Asian Games. There are other achievements as well to name as we attained the 3rd position in 2017 FIH World Hockey League, 2nd position in 2018 Champions Trophy at Netherlands, 1st position in 2017 Asia Cup at Bangladesh, 1st position in 2018 Asian Champions Trophy at Oman, etc.

18th Asian Games in Jakarta

Well, the hope is in the air and we know that the font size of our Hockey games victory news headlines will be bigger and bigger. No need of the hyper-nationalism for getting support if we will keep Hockey sticks safely to play and not to fight.