he One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL) project has completed its first year of operation. 22 schools, spread over 4 cities (Puducherry, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur), have enlisted in the project. For most of the students that participated in the programme, this was their first ever introduction to the sport of hockey.

7th January, 2009: The OTHL project was launched at two schools in Puducherry - the 162-year-old Petit Seminare and Amalorpavam Higher Secondary School.

April 18-19, 2009: A 2-day summer camp for about 140 children was organised at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in Puducherry. The camp was open to all public and private schools in Puducherry and its suburbs. A unique certificate in which the participant's photograph was printed was given away to each of the 140 students who attended the summer camp.

Week of August 15, 2009: 3 OTHL volunteers - Arumugam, Shashank Gupta and Manickam - interacted with 7 schools in Puducherry, with a flurry of activities lined up. They organised one match, one hockey quiz and one summer camp certificate distribution during the Assembly in each of these 7 schools. Prize money of Rs. 1,800 was awarded for each match. Each player got his own photograph laminated, along with a stand. As far as the school kids were concerned, this was the hit of the whole programme.

The OTHL programme spread to 3 other cities in 2009 - Chennai, Kolkata and Kanpur. Various volunteers are associated with OTHL - Shashank Gupta, Dr. Shankar Chatterjee, David Boddapetti, and of course, Arumugam, who founded the Hockey Citizens Group, under whose aegis the OTHL project is being organised.

What is the report card after Year 1? 500 students have become sports lovers. Most of them now have their first ever hockey stick. Some also got hockey posters, some got books. By taking part in inter-school leagues, they have learnt the value of teamwork. By participating in activities like quizzes and essay competitions, they have become more confident. This is an equal opportunity project, benefitting both boys and girls. A fit student is a good student is a happy student.

How You Can Help Monetarily:

• Rs. 1,200 - Sponsor a school hockey player for an year
• Rs. 2,500 - Sponsor a school hockey match
• Rs. 30,000 - Sponsor a school hockey team for an year
• Rs. 50,000 - Sponsor an inter-school hockey tournament

If you'd like to volunteer for, contribute to, or partcipate in this unique, nationwide school-based programme, please contact othl@stick2hockey.com.

Article by Prince Frederick, Photograph Courtesy The Hindu

argely due to its strong link with the Indian Railways (e.g., Bengal Nagpur Railway), the Anglo-Indian community has a rich hockey-playing tradition. As various Railway schools fostered the sport, Anglo-Indian youngsters had a head start in this game.

National players were drawn from Railway teams, and Indian squads with a majority of Anglo-Indian players were not uncommon. The composition of the Indian hockey squad that struck gold at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics underlines their dominance. 9 Anglo-Indians (8 in the playing eleven and 1 spare) were in the 13-member team.

Anglo-Indian localities have played a vital role in popularising the sport. Bow Barracks in Kolkata is credited with nurturing a vibrant hockey-playing culture. Despite the loss of playing spaces, the twirling of hockey sticks is still heard in this Anglo-Indian area.

"Hockey matches are conducted on a street in Bow Barracks," says Harry MacLure (Editor, Anglos In The Wind) who is part of a group masterminding the revival of Anglo-Indian hockey. Kolkata also has one of the oldest and most respected Anglo-Indian hockey groups in the country — the Calcutta Rangers Club.

Just as in Kolkata, Anglo-Indian hockey is present, if only in a weakened form, in every metro in India, and also in a few small towns such as Podanur in Coimbatore and Veteran Lines, a predominantly Anglo-Indian area in Pallavaram, a suburb of Chennai.

However, Anglo-Indian hockey today pales when compared to its glorious past. Anglo-Indian schools were partly characterised by the zeal with which they promoted the sport. Many Anglo-Indian players were initiated into the game by school coaches. The Anglo-Indian school teams were so formidable that they were expected to give a tough fight to any senior hockey team.

"Now, except for St. George's, no Anglo-Indian school in Chennai has a hockey team. While you can't blame the schools for letting studies take precedence over sports, it is sad Anglo-Indian schools have lost one of their defining qualities," says Alan Coyne, who distinguished himself playing for the State Bank of India in Chennai..

A lack of will at the school level to promote hockey is but a minor factor contributing to a drop in Anglo-Indian hockey groups. Migration of Anglo-Indians (starting from the 1970s) to other countries in search of better opportunities is the main factor. A majority of clubs disbanded because its key members settled abroad.

Interestingly, Anglo-Indians have helped the cause of the game in the lands they set foot in. In an article titled "Anglo-Indian contribution to Australian hockey" in Anglos In The Wind, Trevor Vanderputt says that as early as the 1930s, an Anglo-Indian occupied a respectable place among Australian hockey coaches. Dennis Dunbar, who had played for the Calcutta Rangers Club, went on to coach many groups in Australia. Reciting a litany of Anglo-Indian names associated with top-notch coaching in Australia, he singles out Richard Carr for special praise. As a coach, Carr is said to have shown the Aussies that "skills can achieve what power can't."

"Thanks to migration, the Anglo-Indian community in India has dwindled. But that is a poor excuse for not attempting to produce more such hockey legends," says Harry MacLure, reflecting the present mood in the Anglo-Indian community.

Harry MacLure was the driving force behind "A Toast To Hockey", a two-day tournament (January 8 and 9) at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium meant to celebrate Anglo-Indian hockey.

"A shared passion for hockey has bound the Anglo-Indians together over the years. Through this event, Anglos in the Wind attempts to demonstrate the power of this binding glue," says MacLure.

The principal sponsor of the event is Canadian Social Service for Anglo-Indians (CSSAI). Anglo-Indian teams from Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Guntur, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai, Tiruchirapalli, Villupuram and Podanur participated in the tournament. The teams were not charged any participation fee, and there was no entry fee for spectators.

The chief guest of the event was hockey legend Leslie Claudius, a towering figure in Indian hockey and a well respected name in the Anglo-Indian community.

Photograph by C. V. Subrahmanyam, courtesy The Hindu

ndhra University has paid tribute to hockey wizard Dhyan Chand by installing his statue in its campus in Visakhapatnam.

Vice-Chancellor B. Satyanarayana unveiled the bronze statute, in the pose of the great player executing a scoop shot, at the Golden Jubilee ground back on August 27, 2009, on the occasion of Nationals Sports Day. Prof. Satyanarayana said that the statue should inspire budding players to play games and bring laurels to the country.

The function was attended by a good gathering of young and veteran hockey players, and school and college students. Former Andhra University hockey blues and retired police officers - T. S. R. Prasad, N. S. Prasad and Mohammed Khan, secretary of District Hockey Association - Gopalakrishna, and secretary of the District Women's Hockey Association - Jeeja Valsaraj, were among the attendees.

Andhra University High School Drawing teacher, Ramana Murthy, prepared the statue.

The Visakha Sports Journalists Association congratulated Prof. Satyanarayana for making Andhra University the first university in India to install a statue of Dhyan Chand.

Two other statues of Dhyan Chand are known to exist - one opposite National Stadium in Delhi, and one in Jhansi.

Photograph by Matias Aguirre, courtesy FIH

he Men's Champions Challenge I hockey tournament was held in Salta (Argentina) from December 6 to 13, 2009. 8 countries participated in the tournament, with the winner of the Champions Challenge earning the right to play in the 2010 Champions Trophy.

India finished a disappointing 3rd in the tournament, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
Pool	Dec 6	India 2 - New Zealand 2	Tushar Khandkar (30 min) Shivendra Singh (51 min)
	Dec 8	India 4 - China 1	Prabhjyot Singh (7 min), PC Rajpal Singh (35 min) Sarvanjeet Singh (56 min), PC Shivendra Singh (70 min)
	Dec 10	India 4 - Belgium 2	Dhananjay Mahadik (19 min), PC Shivendra Singh (30 min) Tushar Khandkar (48 min) Prabhjyot Singh (70 min)
Semi-Final	Dec 12	Pakistan 6 - India 3	Dhananjay Mahadik (8, 62 min), both PCs Divakar Ram (67 min), PC
3rd vs. 4th	Dec 13	India 3 - Argentina 2	V. R. Raghunath (35 min), PC Gurbaj Singh (54 min) Dhananjay Mahadik (69 min), PC

The final standings were: 1. New Zealand, 2. Pakistan, 3. India, 4. Argentina, 5. South Africa, 6. China, 7. Belgium, 8. Canada

The following tournament awards were given:

• Player of the Tournament - Sardara Singh (India)
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament - Kyle Pontifex (New Zealand)
• Top Goal Scorer - Pedro Ibarra (Argentina), 8 goals
• Fair Play Trophy - Argentina

The Indian team was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza, Parattu R. Sreejesh

Full-Backs: Vokkaliga R. Raghunath, Divakar Ram, Sarvanjeet Singh

Half-Backs: Vikram Pillai, Sardara Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Roshan Minz, Bharat, Danish Mujtaba

Forwards: Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandkar, Rajpal Singh (captain), Dhananjay Mahadik, Prabhjyot Singh, Arjun Halappa, Gurvinder Singh Chandi

Officials: Jose Brasa (coach), Harendra Singh (manager)

Photograph by Sushanta Patronobish, courtesy The Hindu

he 114th Coal India Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament was held on the newly laid turf in the Sports Authority of India Complex in Kolkata, from December 1 to 15, 2009. This is the only artificial turf ground in the city of Kolkata.

The tournament was held on a knockout-cum-league basis. 15 teams participated in the Knockout phase, with the following 3 teams qualifying for the next stage - Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, Eastern Railway Sporting Association and Southern Railway.

In the Quarter-final League, the above 3 teams were joined by the following 5 seeded teams - Indian Oil Corporation, Karnataka XI, Mumbai XI, Dakshin Madhya Railway (SCR) and Punjab Sports Club.

Indian Oil and Dakshin Madhya Railway reached the final of the tournament, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Indian Oil Corporation	Date	Dakshin Madhya Railway
QF League	Dec 8	beat Karnataka XI 6-2	Dec 9	beat Eastern Railway Sports Association 9-1
	Dec 10	drew with Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation 1-1	Dec 11	beat Mumbai 2-1
	Dec 11	beat Southern Railway 4-0	Dec 12	lost to Punjab Sports Club 1-3
Semi-Final	Dec 14	defeated Mumbai XI 4-2	Dec 14	beat Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation 6-1

In the final held on December 15, Indian Oil beat Dakshin Madhya Railway 9-8 via penalty shootout to lift the glittering Coal India Beighton Cup trophy for the first time.

The teams were tied at 2-2 after full time and extra time. The tie-breaker began on a dramatic note, with both teams missing their first attempts.

Indian Oil then converted four attempts through Aryan Antil, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gaurav Tokhi and Dharamveer. Dakshin Madhya Railway matched their opponents by scoring through Innocent Kullu, Mohammad Aleem, Gursev Singh and Prabhakar Singh.

The match moved to sudden death with a 6-6 scoreline. Indian Oil kept their cool to score through Antil, Rupinder and Tokhi. After Kullu and Aleem converted their chances, a miss from Gursev Singh shattered the railmen's hopes as Indian Oil took away the title.

The winners were awarded Rs. 1.25 lakhs, while the losers were given Rs. 75,000. Mumbai XI's winger Lalith Upadhyaya was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his outstding speed and stickwork. SAI Training Centre received the Fairplay Trophy.

For the 22nd straight time, the Beighton Cup has gone to an outstation team. The last Kolkata team to win the Beighton Cup was BNR in 1988.

K. D. Singh 'Babu' (left) and Dhyan Chand (right), Photo Courtesy Stick2Hockey.com

he Photograph of the Month for January 2010 is of the 1936 Olympic captain Dhyan Chand and 1952 Olympic captain Kunvar Digvijay Singh 'Babu'.

Dhyan Chand won 3 Olympic gold medals for India (1928, 32, 36), while Babu won 2 Olympic gold medals for India (1948, 52).

Delhi's main hockey stadium is named Major Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium, while Lucknow's main sports stadium is named K. D. Singh Babu Stadium.

orporate house Sahara is sponsoring the national hockey teams through July 2011 in an annual contract worth Rs. 3.03 crores. The sponsorship contract signed by Sahara, Hockey India and Leisure Sports Marketing covers the Men's senior team, Women's senior team, Men's junior team and Women's junior team.

What is not clear is whether a part of the Sahara sponsorship contract goes towards the national team players getting match fees, or monthly salaries, or performance-based incentives. Presently, Indian hockey players get nothing.

When the Indian team found out that the Pakistan Hockey Federation gives its players Rs. 50,000 per month, they approached Hockey India and asked for either a monthly salary or at least performance-based incentives.

The players' letter to Hockey India stated, "In the previous three years we were paid Rs. 25,000 each for every overseas tournament before we left India. We would like to be paid this time too for having taken part in the Champions Challenge tournament. For future tournaments, please make arrangements to pay well in advance."

When Hockey India did not announce any cash rewards after the Indian team won the bronze medal in the Champions Challenge I, the Indian hockey players, training at a camp in Balewadi near Pune for the World Cup, stopped their training from January 8.

Captain Rajpal Singh said, "We have decided to boycott the camp indefinitely till we are paid our money. We took such a decision in a meeting of players. Earlier we used to be paid after every tournament, but it is not the case now. We have reminded Hockey India officials of pending payments quite a few times, but nothing has been done. We will now report to the camp only after we are paid. Hockey India does not care for the players; it is very sad. The sponsors are paying the money, but the players don't get anything."

The Indian men's team played a total of 46 international matches in 2009, without getting match fees or monthly salary or performance incentives. In which profession, in which country, will a person work for free 46 days a year with no salary and no income?

FIH Media Summit will be held at Le Meridien Hotel in Delhi on Wednesday, 10th March, 2010, on the sidelines of the Hero Honda World Cup.

Agenda for the summit includes:

• FIH media policies and FIH strategic plans
• Better understanding between the Media and FIH
• Learning Experiences
• Feedback opportunities
  

he January 2010 Visitor of the Month is Raju Venkateswaran, who wrote the following to BharatiyaHockey.org:

Club hockey in India is almost dead, because of funding constraints and due to lack of infrastructure. Most of the state hockey associations today exist in namesake only.

Hockey is surviving in India only because of State Government run sports hostels in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab, Bihar and Kerala, as well as Army run sports units like Madras Engineering Group (MEG) and Army Service Corps (ASC) in Bangalore.

Most of the schools in India do not have hockey trainers/coaches, and naturally they do not encourage hockey. The fault, as well as the solution, lies with the current and retired hockey players. They should offer their services to help encourage hockey in schools. It is never too late to act.

Let all the retired hockey players who have played at various levels go to schools in different parts of India, and start training boys and girls who are below 7 years of age. You will soon see lots of children taking up hockey, and eventually you will build a talent base for the future, and Indian hockey will prosper.

I make a sincere appeal to all hockey lovers and current and retired players - let's not bother about who should coach the Indian senior men's or women's teams. Instead, let us all do something at the grassroots level. Take up one or two schools in your respective towns/villages/cities and work in real earnest for the revival of Indian hockey.

I am a former Bangalore university and Karnataka state player. I quit my bank job after 9 years of service. I have worked with school children since then.

Jai Hind

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

he January 2010 edition of Fun with Numbers gives a statistical review of Indian hockey (men, women, senior, junior) in 2009. Some points to note:

• In all of 2009, India did not host even a single tournament or test series for the senior women, junior women and junior men's hockey teams. All 2009 events that these teams participated in were held on foreign soil.
  
• The Indian junior women's team did not win even a single tournament or test series in 2009, and lost more matches than they won in 2009. The other 3 categories (senior men, senior women, junior men) won at least at least 1 tournament or test series, and overall won more matches than they lost in 2009.
  
• Rani Rampal had the unique distinction of being the top scorer for India in both junior women's hockey as well as senior women's hockey.

1. Senior Men's Hockey

22 players scored a total of 126 goals for India in 2009. The Top 5 goal scorers were: 1 - Sandeep Singh (29 goals), 2 - Shivendra Singh (15 goals), 3 - Prabhjyot Singh (13 goals), 4 - Rajpal Singh (11 goals), 5 - Dhananjay Mahadik (10 goals)

Category	Description	Venue	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	GF	GA	Rank
Tournaments	Champions Challenge I	Salta (ARG)	5	3	1	1	16	13	3rd
	Asia Cup	Kuantan (MAS)	4	2	1	1	20	7	5th
	Azlan Shah Cup	Ipoh (MAS)	5	3	0	2	12	6	1st
	Punjab Gold Cup	Chandigadh	7	3	2	2	16	14	2nd
Test Series	India vs. Argentina	Mar del Plata (ARG)	4	2	2	0	7	9	Draw
	India vs. Belgium	Braxgata (BEL)	3	2	1	0	9	10	Won
	India vs. Canada	Br. Columbia (CAN)	7	6	0	1	21	11	Won
	India vs. England	Birmingham (ENG)	3	1	2	0	7	9	Lost
	India vs. Netherlands	Amstelveen (NED)	2	0	1	1	6	8	Lost
	India vs. New Zealand	Wellington, Auckland	4	2	0	2	6	3	Won
	India vs. Spain	Terrassa (ESP)	2	0	2	0	6	13	Lost
		TOTAL	46	24	12	10	126	103

2. Senior Women's Hockey

13 players scored a total of 84 goals for India in 2009. The Top 5 goal scorers were: 1 - Rani Rampal (18 goals), 2 - Saba Anjum (13 goals), 3 - Chan Chan Thokchom (11 goals), Joint 4th - Surinder Kaur, Mamta Kharab (10 goals)

Category	Description	Venue	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	GF	GA	Rank
Tournaments	Champions Challenge II	Kazan (RUS)	5	5	0	0	26	9	1st
	Asia Cup	Bangkok	6	3	1	2	36	9	2nd
	Spar Cup	Durban	4	0	4	0	8	19	4th
Test Series	India vs. Argentina	Buenos Aires	3	1	1	1	3	4	Draw
	India vs. Chile	Santiago	4	3	0	1	11	2	Won
		TOTAL	22	12	6	4	84	43

3. Junior Men's Hockey

12 players scored a total of 86 goals for India in 2009. The Top 3 goal scorers were: 1 - Divakar Ram (25 goals), 2 - Mandeep Antil (15 goals), 3 - Danish Mujtaba (13 goals)

Category	Description	Venue	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	GF	GA	Rank
Tournaments	Junior World Cup	Singapore	8	6	1	1	42	9	9th
	4-Nation Tournament	Johor Bahru (MAS)	4	3	1	0	20	5	2nd
	Olympic Youth Festival	Sydney	4	2	1	1	14	9	4th
Test Series	India vs. Argentina	Buenos Aires	4	1	0	3	10	9	Won
		TOTAL	20	12	3	5	86	32

4. Junior Women's Hockey

12 players scored a total of 53 goals for India in 2009. The Top 3 goal scorers were: 1 - Rani Rampal (8 goals), 2 - Poonam Rani (6 goals), 3 - Ritu Rani (4 goals)

Category	Description	Venue	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	GF	GA	Rank
Tournaments	Junior World Cup	Boston	7	4	3	0	18	11	9th
	Junior Asia Cup	Seremban (MAS)	5	3	2	0	24	6	3rd
	Olympic Youth Festival	Sydney	4	2	2	0	7	6	3rd
Test Series	India vs. New Zealand	Nelson (NZL)	3	0	3	0	4	15	Lost
		TOTAL	19	9	10	0	53	38