CHENNAI: Growing up, Mareeswaran Sakthivel’s idea of a dream was owning a hockey stick. Finances were so tight — his parents work in a matchstick factory in Kovilpatti — that a hockey stick was a luxury they couldn’t afford. The family’s focus was on securing two square meals a day, the hockey stick could wait. But Sakthivel’s repeated pleas finally bore fruit as his family took out a loan, an indulgence they couldn’t afford, to grant his son his wish.
That decision has reaped rich rewards as Mareeswaran made the cut for junior men’s core group camp inside the SAI premises at Bengaluru. The 20-year-old is one of only two boys from TN (the other is S Karthi) who will be in the camp. The official announcement will be made in a few days.
Hailing from Kovilpatti, Mareeswaran did not have the best of facilities nor the financial support during his early days. In a family of four, their spending was limited to essentials. However, seeing the 20-year-old’s relentless passion for the sport, his parents decided to take a loan to buy him a stick — a decision that they won’t regret now.
It was N Muthukumar who first spotted the striker in 2015. Having seen a spark in him, the coach took him under his wings and made him join the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu’s (SDAT) Sports Hostel of Excellence in Kovilpatti. Since then, he has been supported by SDAT and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN). Thanks to this, his training, diet and academics streamlined.
“When he came to the sports hostel, he was lanky. There was some hesitation whether to pick him or not. But we knew he had the potential. So, apart from his skills, we focussed on his physique in order to improve his game,” says his coach Muthukumar. Results began to come his way after spending extra time in building his endurance and strengthening the core.
True hero who beat odds at its own game
Results began to come his way after spending extra time in building his endurance and strengthening the core. In 2019, he made it to the state team for the junior national championship A division and was fast-tracked to the senior team. He then went on to represent the U-21 state team in the Khelo India Youth Games that was held in Guwahati this February.
“In the yo-yo test, the average score needed to be in the Indian national camp is 19. When we conducted the test, he touched 21.2 and beyond. The improved fitness helped him play more minutes on the field and perform better,” added Muthukumar. The SDAT coach’s mantra is simple: a step forward is a step in the right direction.
As cliched as it sounds, it has worked for Mareeswaran. Getting picked for a national camp might not be as significant as representing a country. But for people of Tamil Nadu, it is. In the last 15 years, no player from the state has played for the senior team.
Until recently, there was only one national camper (Karthi) among all four teams — men’s, women’s and junior men’s and women’s. With Mareeswaran’s inclusion in the camp, there is a 100 percent jump of TN players in the four camps. Even if this may not mean much for TN, for Mareeswaran, this could just be the beginning.