Hockey Goals - The rise of Hockey in India

I remember in my childhood I used to enjoy counting the score of my cousins while they are playing cricket. Yeah, I am talking about the gully cricket. We used to set our own rules where the common rule which everyone follows is, “When you hit the ball into any house, you are out”. But now I wonder why did our little hands choose bat and ball over many other sports. Probably because when we turned on tv we get to see Sachin and Dhoni in various commercials or may be because our fellow mates collected images of cricketers from the newspaper.

Why is cricket so popular in India, despite of gaining so much popularity why isn’t it our national sport?

Initially both Hockey and Cricket were introduced by the Britishers. But Hockey was well liked by people. It might be surprising for you to hear that Indian hockey team won 8 gold medals in Olympics. Its glory reduced gradually due to many factors but the major problem as believed by the experts was the decision of International Hockey Federation on changing the field of hockey from grass to Astro turf (artificial grass). India did not produce Astro turf and it was expensive to import. Eventually hockey courts reduced in number so did players. Parallelly cricketers remarkable play in global level encouraged people to follow cricket. People loved betting on their favorite teams in IPL. Magnate invested in large amounts. Giving the hope of promising future for the aspirants.

Nonetheless, a new enthusiasm has started in the hearts of people after watching the brilliant play of hockey players both men and women in Tokyo Olympics. Hockey can gain back its importance, for that government, people, players and media should put in some efforts. Primarily funds should be given to set up hockey fields, training young players should be at a reasonable price. Player's achievements should be highlighted. hockey federation should come up with inter and intra state competitions in order to engage people in the game. I guess that's what it takes for any game to become popular among people in a course of time.

I will conclude this by sharing my childhood incident where me and my friends eagerly waited for P.E.T period. We all had our own favorites but we were never particular about any single game. I remember going to badminton classes after school hours. Most of my classmates joined me but the number gradually reduced after my 10^th class as their parents believed that it is time to concentrate purely on studies as the entrances are forthcoming. I believe if this scenario changes, then may be India can top the leaderboard in all the sports. Is it not fun and exciting to see India win?

Author:

Meghna Goud

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