Rolling into success

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While flipping over the pages of his lower primary school GK textbook, a child reads, ‘Hockey is our national game’. Suddenly his face lights up and he says, “I also play hockey.’’ Hearing this you are overwhelmed, so you grab the little one and gently pat him saying, “I’m so proud of you my dear, you are keeping our nation’s hopes alive.’’

But the hockey which this kid plays is played with wheels underneath the shoes and is called roller hockey. It is not the ‘national sport’ he has read about or the one you normally see on your television screen. However, you don’t want to blame the child for thinking both the varieties are the same.

It might sound disturbing, but it’s a fact that while only a few tens of players arrive to take part in field hockey district camps, camps for roller hockey are full of hundreds of players. So, is this a good or bad trend?

Hockey India president Mariamma Koshy laughs when she hears about this and cautions you not to compare both. “The roller thing is just for entertainment, it is nothing like field hockey. I’m not sure if the popularity of roller hockey will or has hit the progress field hockey has made,” she says.

While field hockey is losing steam, why is the roller variant a big hit? Anil Kumar, a former field hockey player and now a teacher of roller games, including roller hockey explains, “Perhaps there is more fun involved and you can even play it in your courtyard,” he says.

So there lies the difference. Space to play and entertainment are essential if you want kids to follow a game. Sadly both these traits are missing in field hockey. You will never find even one decent hockey field in the state.

“Yes we accept there are no quality hockey fields and it is definitely a major concern. We are trying to bring about change, but it takes time,” said Koshy. “I think it will be good to have more entertaining versions of hockey in order to regain the game’s lost popularity. There are 9s tournaments happening at the international level and this is more of a crowd puller, so maybe we should start thinking along those lines to impress the kids,” she says.

Innovations and improvisations are something field hockey associations reiterate, but never manage to implement. So for the time being, all that you can do is get back home and tell your kid that the ‘national game’ is not what he plays.