KOCHI: An official from Kerala Hockey said recruitments for women players into government departments hasn’t been taking place for the past five years. After studies, if the players want to continue the sport with regular practices and participate in tournaments, their main option is to get recruited in government departments.
“Chances for men are also slim as the departments are considering other sports over hockey. The Kerala Police, KSEB, central excise and customs, RBI, income tax, and organisations like Hindustan Latex Limited can recruit players. But they aren’t. It is unfair for a player to not have a job after representing the state team for years. In Kerala, as of now, only the postal department has notified for recruiting hockey players,” the official said.
If several departments are recruiting, then gradually there will be a rise in competition and the performance level will also increase, the official added. “When there are many teams, there will be more competition and Kerala Hockey can give affiliation to the department to enter state championships,” he said. According to the official, what Kerala lacks the most with respect to hockey is artificial turfs. There are only two hockey turfs in Kerala; one in Kollam and one at G V Raja Sports School, the latter is not a full-fledged turf yet.
“Apart from building turfs, we need modern training equipment too. 3D skills have been introduced recently. To get well versed with the 3D skill techniques in field hockey, specialised cone equipment are necessary. For goalkeepers, it is important to practice with ball throwing machines,” he added.
