Promoting Indian Hockey to Previous Glories.
Promoting Indian Hockey to Previous Glories
The Golden Old Days:
— Between 1924 and 1956 India won six successive Olympic hockey golds.
India has achieved huge successes in hockey during its early years but later on it has only been a continuous downfall. With 8 Gold medals it has been the most successful hockey team in the world. So how come it came to a point that this hockey giant failed to even qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Today, again the Indian hockey team is staring down the barrel as far as qualifying for 2012 London Olympics is concerned. Lets first look at the reasons for downfall.
Reasons for Downfall:
1. Lack of proper infrastructure:
Our country does not have the basic infrastructure to support this sport. The absence of enough practice stadiums is an obstacle that our national game is constantly facing. A country like Holland has more than 440 grounds to play hockey. India does not even have 50.
Even the available infrastructure is a battle against poor conditions – right from props to the lighting, from changing rooms to bathrooms, from food to water – is pitiable.
2. HI v/s IHF:
This is the main reason behind the downfall. The entire administration is a mess; no one knows know who is in charge. Hockey India goes to a corporate with a proposal and then a few days later someone from the Indian Hockey Federation goes with a similar proposal. The prospective sponsor stunned.
Besides this top IHF officials caught taking bribes. With scandals now and then, there is a little room for doubts on absence of authencity and morals of federation. Poor and controversial selection process. Often changing of players and coaches affects adversely team’s performance.
3. FIH [International Hockey Federation]:
One cannot clap with one hand. The approach of FIH was not also good. Regular change in rules is not for betterment of the game, but to cause problems for poor Asian teams. India and Pakistan are supposed to be
The Golden Old Days:
— Between 1924 and 1956 India won six successive Olympic hockey golds.
India has achieved huge successes in hockey during its early years but later on it has only been a continuous downfall. With 8 Gold medals it has been the most successful hockey team in the world. So how come it came to a point that this hockey giant failed to even qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Today, again the Indian hockey team is staring down the barrel as far as qualifying for 2012 London Olympics is concerned. Lets first look at the reasons for downfall.
Reasons for Downfall:
1. Lack of proper infrastructure:
Our country does not have the basic infrastructure to support this sport. The absence of enough practice stadiums is an obstacle that our national game is constantly facing. A country like Holland has more than 440 grounds to play hockey. India does not even have 50.
Even the available infrastructure is a battle against poor conditions – right from props to the lighting, from changing rooms to bathrooms, from food to water – is pitiable.
2. HI v/s IHF:
This is the main reason behind the downfall. The entire administration is a mess; no one knows know who is in charge. Hockey India goes to a corporate with a proposal and then a few days later someone from the Indian Hockey Federation goes with a similar proposal. The prospective sponsor stunned.
Besides this top IHF officials caught taking bribes. With scandals now and then, there is a little room for doubts on absence of authencity and morals of federation. Poor and controversial selection process. Often changing of players and coaches affects adversely team’s performance.
3. FIH [International Hockey Federation]:
One cannot clap with one hand. The approach of FIH was not also good. Regular change in rules is not for betterment of the game, but to cause problems for poor Asian teams. India and Pakistan are supposed to be