BHUBANESWAR: There was a time in the recent past when hockey within the Indian context meant Bhubaneswar. These days, Hockey India (HI) are putting in place an elaborate plan to take the sport to multiple centres across different states. A sport not bound by borders, if you will.
The next 12 months will re-emphasise this feeling as the sport — in different avatars (the franchise based Hockey India League as well as international hockey to be held in India) — will crisscross the length and breadth of the country.
Here's a sample of what's to come. The men's Asia Cup will be held in Rajgir in Bihar (the winners will qualify for the World Cup) in August. Following that, the junior World Cup will be held in two cities in Tamil Nadu (Madurai and Chennai in November and December). The season will close with the resurrected Hockey India League in four Indian cities (the just-concluded season was in Ranchi and Rourkela).
"After the HIL (finished)," HI president, Dilip Tirkey said on Thursday, "we got a feeling that it might be a good idea to spread the league to other centres. The quality of hockey was very nice, so this will be a nice way to spread the sport. Also, if the players move around, there will be less chance of boredom setting in by staying at just one place for a prolonged period. So, it is possible that the next edition will be held in four venues." It's understood that Chennai and Lucknow may be among the four cities to be in the running to host some league matches in the second year.
One of the other proposed big changes pertain to the league window. The men's HIL began just after Christmas and ran till the first week of February. It saw some foreign stars pull out of the competition as they wanted to spend New Year's at home. To make it more foolproof, the league is contemplating a start date in the first week of January to allow foreign players the option of spending time with their families before linking up with the teams. At the auction, 96 international players were signed but over 25% of the players had pulled out of the league because of the timing.
There are also plans to cut the flab apropos the length of the league. While HI haven't received any feedback, this will be music to the ears of national coach, Craig Fulton, who had voiced his concerns after India's 1-4 loss to Germany on Tuesday. With India missing Harmanpreet Singh and Hardik Singh to niggles and Sumit a long-term absentee, the South African had said that the league 'had taken its toll' on the players without elaborating. These plans are, however, yet to be rubber-stamped and will need the approval of all stakeholders including the team owners and broadcasters (there is a meeting coming up between the different interested parties to discuss these things).
HI are also drawing up some plans to fast-track the growth of Indian coaches. This has remained a genuine gripe and the issue was front and centre as most of the HIL teams had foreign chief coaches in the dugout. "One thing we noticed is that all teams had a foreigner as the chief coach," Tirkey, who's up for re-election as HI president next year, said. "So we have to do something about it by helping our Indian coaches reach a level that they are considered for roles like these. We will support them in all ways possible, including identifying places elsewhere in the world where coaching programmes are good and send a few of them to learn from them. It’s in the pipeline, but something we want to do.”
On the subject of the age-group World Cup later this year, HI had no choice but to hold it in two cities because of the absence of multiple pitches at the same venue in Chennai. With it being a 24-team edition, Madurai was considered. It's not yet known who will play where. Staying on the subject, Tirkey assured that PR Sreejesh will get to coach the side at the event. The 2021 batch didn't get that as then senior coach, Graham Reid, was asked to take charge of the team at the event.
Friday's matches
Women: England vs Netherlands, India vs Germany
Men: India vs Ireland
Matches begin from 3.00 PM
