As a true piscean, I love daydreaming, and one of my favorite dreams is I having a cane in my hand and a liberty to whip anybody I wish. After a long queue of scoundrals (ie Our Great politicians) the first ones from the sports feild would be our Hockey administrators. And I would whip them hard n Strong till they mend their ways or I hurt myself, and Im pretty confident of their shamelessness and am sure to hurt myself. Its really hard to beleive that we were undisputed champs of this wonderful game and having won, EIGHT olympic titles at a strech, today we have to play world cup & Olympic qualifiers to make sure of a spot in the respective tournaments.
They say its losing its popularity, but why? Why has this super game lost its popularity? A question they must ask themselves. I personally think, its a game which requires more skills than football, and demands better stratergies as the playing feild is much smaller than football.
How many people know that India holds the record for highest margin of victory in the history of Feild Hockey? We beat USA 24-1, yes read that 24-1 in 1928 Olympics. And after that, we went on to clinch 8 consecetive Olympic Hockey titles. Where has that glory gone? Our players are not motivated, our coaches are always complaining. A few months back I read in a sports weekly that the upcomming players did not take it seriously because they were not sure of their careers. They are still served Milk and Gulucose biscuts in training camps!!!! That is something we dont even feed our kids these days. The administators are making merry at the cost of the game. They say Indias non playing contignent for any Hockey championship is larger than its players. Everyone from the manager level, to the secy attend the tournaments with their wives and kids ... pathetic. And the worst part is that the Govt turns a blind eye as usual. We hear a new coach appointed every 6 months. Players being axed for raising their voices, the most recent being Dhanraj pillay & Co. And consider this ...... its Indias NATIONAL SPORT
No wonder the top talents of the country are more happy playing league games in France and Japan. Its said that we lack a killer instinct, why? Thats because mentally the players are not secured. Instead of wasting money on organizing summer camps for hockey which rarely serves any purpose, the administrators must do something to restore the players confidence by giving them financial security, getting sponsorships from bigger companies. The government has to intervene here and keep a strict watch on the dvelopments of the Hockey federation. Mind you this is not impossible as if it can happen in Pakistan, it can be implemented here also. Even if half of attention that Cricket attracts is paid to Hockey we shall see an unbeleivable change in Indias Hockey fortunes.
I pray for the magical revival of this great game.