The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : A model to revive the sport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 09, 2006
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Hockey

A model to revive the sport

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The scheme set in motion by the Rural Development Trust (RDT) and the Anantapur District Hockey Association (ADHA) could serve as a model to revive hockey in the country.

A few months ago, three players of the Spanish team and a coach conducted a camp at the RDT Sports Complex for players, mostly school children, physical education teachers (PETs) and coaches. The scheme didn't fizzle out when the Spaniards left.

Coaches, hailing mostly from the Rayalseema region and who had attended the camp, had not only got exposure to scientific training methods, but were enthused enough to share the skills they had obtained of late.

So well had the Spaniards done their job that triple Olympian Mukesh Kumar, who visited the camp, remarked that he'd picked up some new tricks to impart to trainees at his academy and elsewhere. In their eagerness to impress, coaches and PETs disseminated their new-found knowledge, mostly to school children.

The follow-up plan got under way with the identification of 11 schools across Anantapur district, one among them for girls. Each of these was to have a 30-member team that would undergo training. The RDT and the ADHA ordered full kits, right from sticks to protective gear, for the 11 teams, straight from Punjab.

The Dasara holidays came in handy to conduct a camp at the above-mentioned venue.

"Such was the response and the rise in standards, that by the year end we plan to start a full-fledged league in Anantapur," said Moncho Ferrer, President, ADHA and Associate Programme Director, RDT.

"Another camp will be held during the Sankranthi holidays. Players will then be short-listed for a residential academy we plan to start next summer," he said. "Even if they don't reach great heights in the sport, they will at least be healthier," he says of the stress on physical fitness the scheme emphasises.

With the sport's comprehensive development in view, he proposes to hold a clinic for referees and technical officials too. "Dharmavaram in this district was once a citadel of hockey and our effort is give the National game a rebirth here," concluded Ferrer.s

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport