Hockey in India

[ishveir]

talking about hockey in india, its weird to note that although its the national sport it is still less popular compared to cricket

Why?

I wonder what is happening to india's hockey team.

For one thing its the national sports but has always been conquered by punjabis...it seems lately that the arent many punjabi players in the team anymore.

Of course we have the legends in the team, but what about the new generation? i talked to my indian friends and they say that they is too much corruption in hockey and you must have more than talent to be playing at the national level representing india.

Is that true?

Over in malaysia, we have a great hockey team as well, and used to have 3 or 4 punjabi sikhs who played for teh national team in late 70s and early 80s.

Right now, punjabi sikhs are great at high school level, but somehow you dont see many faces at the national level.

That is because only a select few muslim malays are nurtured and sent to sports schools or acedemies since they are young (everything is paid for them)

Leaving the others to fight for their place as they grow.

However what is the situation in India as hockey enthusiasts are aware of the detereoration of india's performance.

[ghost]

there's a good article on this on:

http://sify.com/sports/hockey/fullstory.php?id=13629682

but ur rite... hockey is a game that is on the decline!!

and its true to say that about hockey played by Asians in western countries too!!

the thing is in places like the UK, although the availability of pitches is not a problem, the culture of drinking before a match, during a match and then after a match (trust me i used to play hockey!!) means that Asian/Indian teams dont fair too well!!

Like any sport u need to have love and heart for it!

dont get me wrong there have been a few successful indian teams, but most generally, the embedded culture of lazzyness has taken its toll! Physical fitness and dedication towards the 'team' cause have been called into question plenty of times!.. its the same about Indian cricketers wen they field - jus too lazy!!..

there are a lot of fantastic young hockey players, who could dribble round players in a second, but the game has moved on... fast artificial pitches mean that such skills come second to pass and move tactics used well by the English, Germans and Dutch teams...

As to the success of India... how many astro pitches are there in the pindh?

- grass hockey is slow

- clay hockey is dirty

if the asian teams are to start doing well as they were in the past... they do need support from their Govts.

Abroad, they need support from their family - hockey isnt a cheap sport -and most definately their friends to participate and train.

if u got any mates that play hockey spur them on!!

..........its the sport of legends!

[SinghMunda]

There's recently been a shake-up of the domestic hockey system in india from what i been told by my cousin in india. The teams have proper adidas kits and stuff, including the Panjab team, Shere Jalandhar, and there's a Chandigarh team too. I been told that Shere Jalandhar came second in the national league.

[stopsingh]

The entire structure of the Indian Hockey Fed is wrong. You get players like Dhanraj Pillay who used to be a great player still getting into the national team although he has lost that little extra pace he used to have. New players are not bought in until the older lot retire. The established players have no pressure on them so they do not push themselves.