BHUBANESWAR: When Canada’s hockey players were marching out to face India in the FIH Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, Balbir Singh Panesar, sitting in the Canadian town of Surrey, might have felt a bit torn. On one side, there was the country he grew up supporting, the team he once harboured ambitions of playing for. On the other side were two of his sons — Sukhpal and Balraj.
“It will be tough for both my parents as they both were born and raised in India,” Sukhpal, the elder and more experienced of the two says. “My dad immigrated to Canada when he was around 10 years old. He took up the sport in high school and has been involved in field hockey ever since.”
While Balbir himself was unable to play international hockey, both his sons have filled that hole in his wishlist. Sukhpal, or Sukhi as he is called, was the first to make his debut in 2010. Balraj, two years younger, made his senior debut in 2014. Before joining forces for the senior team, the brothers played together at the junior level too, including at the 2013 Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
“I took up hockey at the age of 7,” Balraj says.
“Sukhpal and I both started out together from the first day. At the time, all of us siblings took up the sport because our father played. I have always enjoyed playing with Sukhpal right from day 1!”
“It wasn’t a very common choice for kids at that age and most of my teammates were also introduced to field hockey through family or friends,” Sukhi adds. They may soon be joined by one more Panesar brother. “I have one other younger brother who also plays hockey,” Sukhi says, “His name is Manjivan.”
Field hockey is not the biggest sport in Canada with its cousin ice hockey reigning supreme in the popularity charts. It is perhaps no surprise that both Sukhi and Balraj dabbled in ice hockey while growing up. “My brothers and I played ice hockey for 10-plus years growing up and they both still play once in a while for fun,” Balraj says. “Field hockey is a more niche sport compared to ice hockey but yes there are cases where we have brought our friends from ice hockey teams to play field hockey when we were younger.”
Both players, though, earned their hockey spurs playing for United Brothers, a Surrey-based club that is mostly made up of Indian expats. The club has, over the years, contributed several players to the Canadian national team.
“Our club has been around for close to 30 years now and has been fortunate enough to produce several players that have gone on to represent Canada at various tournaments at both the U-21 and senior levels,” says Sukhi.
“Like all of the communities in Canada, the Indian community has been excellent in the development of field hockey,” Balraj adds. “All of the communities do an excellent job growing the sport in Canada.”
Despite their first experience of playing a tournament in the country ending on a sour note — Canada lost all three games in the 2013 Junior WC conceding 17 goals — both Balraj and Sukhi are ecstatic at being able to play in the country again.
Once the World Cup is done though, they have plans. A lot of Balbir’s family are still living in Punjab and the brothers plan on paying all of them a visit. “I have lots of family members in India still, mainly in Ludhiana, Punjab. My brother and I will be visiting them after the World Cup,” says Sukhi.