Article and Photograph courtesy Hindustan Times

here are thousands of underprivileged children in the capital who believe that hockey has the potential to change their destiny. And the man who has drilled this belief into them is K Arumugam, 58, a Delhi-based IITian and hydraulic engineer-turned-hockey historian.

The letters OTHL printed on the children's T shirts stand for One Thousands Hockey Legs, a programme Arumugam runs in Delhi and other cities to initiate children into hockey, which for him is both a sport and an instrument of social change.

"If there is a sport that can transform lives of underprivileged children in this country, it's hockey. This open air game helps children develop personality, confidence, and leadership. I also use the game to impart training in etiquette, general knowledge, and spoken English. This is the game where it is easy to come up and get noticed," says Arumugam.

Arumugam believes that common citizens, not institutions, can revive hockey. So in 2008, he founded the Hockey Citizen Group, a non-profit organisation to promote the game. OTHL, (One Thousand Hockey Legs) one of its projects, aims to initiate 500 school children into hockey every year in Delhi and other cities such as Chennai, Kolkata. Arumugam, who quit his cushy job as a scientist with the central government to promote hockey, has a lot of passion to achieve his mission.

Under One Thousand Hockey Legs, Arumugam approaches government schools, offers to repair their grounds, provides children hockey sticks, gear and coaches. The idea, he says, is to create hockey teams in schools and foster a hockey culture among the underprivileged.

"Most schools have cricket, football and basketballs teams but not a hockey team. Though I offer everything free of cost, seeking permission of the principal, sports teacher and the class teacher to start a team is not always easy," says Arumugam, who is currently working with 18 government schools in Delhi, providing hockey training to 1,100 children. It costs him about Rs 18 lakh a year.

Arumugam, who lives in a two-bedroom builder flat in Khirki Extension, spends about Rs 12 lakh a year from his pocket - not easy for someone whose only sources of income are his meagre pension and money from his writings on hockey. "Some money comes from donation from my friends."

Corporate sponsorship is difficult as companies back off because they feel I am into some kind of charity for government school children. But thankfully, this year I got some sponsorship in the form of equipment for the hockey tournaments I organized," says Arumugam, also a hockey historian who has authored 13 books on the game.

He regrets that hockey is now moribund in a city that once hosted as many as 40 hockey clubs, including the famous Independent Club and Wanderer Club - most of which are now extinct. "Institutional hockey has killed hockey clubs, which is quite a setback as far as encouraging hockey at the grassroots level is concerned. But I am hopeful that this game will be revived one day," he says.

"I am neither a hockey player, nor a coach. I am just a common citizen and hockey is my first love. I hire professional coaches to train our children," says Arumugam.

He conducts friendly matches between OTHL schools (schools where he has created hockey teams) and organises Delhi Cup, an inter-OTHL schools tournament. Many of the underprivileged children he has trained have played at zonal competitions. Many others have got selected for their state teams to participate in the sub-junior and junior national championships. "It is just the beginning and I am sure we will be able to produce many players who will play for the country."

Most students he is working with are children of rickshawpullers, masons, mechanics, and construction workers. Quite a few of them have been selected by the Sports Training Centre (STC) run by the Sports Authority of India in various cities. As we talk, two of his players-Zaseem and Amitcome and touch his feet. Both are leaving for Patiala where they have got admission at a sports training centre run by the Sports Authority of India.

"I want to play for the country. If that does not work out, at least I shall get a good job under the sports quota. My father, a construction worker, is no more and my mother is going through hard times," says Zaseem.

Zaseem turns to Arumugam and says, "Thank you sir, for everything."

A proud Arumugam hugs him. It is for such kids that the OTHL was created.

Photograph courtesy Stick2Hockey.com

utch goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann has been playing in the Hockey India League since it began three years ago. He is a member of the Jaypee Punjab Warriors team, and won Player of the Tournament for the 2014 Hockey India League season.

During his travels around the country, he saw at first hand just how difficult it was for children in the remote villages to get into the sport. A lack of funds, lack of facilities and lack of equipment means that these children are unable to learn the sport that has given the Indian nation so much pride over the years.

"As a result, the giant keeper decided to do something about it. Chak de India, which translates as "Go India!", is Jaap's initiative to promote hockey across the country.

Says Jaap, "During my stay in India during the Hockey India League, I learned a lot about India, its culture, its people and learned the differences between both countries. In many areas there are a lot of differences, but not when it comes to playing hockey. Sport connects. It forgets differences. It makes people, and especially children, happy. Kids find hockey fun and interesting, but a lack of hockey sticks and other equipment often ensures that these kids cannot play hockey," says Jaap Stockman.

Eighteen months ago there began a campaign to collect old stuff like hockey sticks, balls and goalkeeper gear at several Dutch hockey clubs, suppliers and even a holiday sports camp. Eventually more than 50 hockey clubs cooperated in organizing a special fundraising at their respective clubs. The fundraising event was a great success, and more than 7,000 hockey items were collected. Dutch turf company GreenFields took care of the logistics of sending the entire consignment to India.

The focus of the Chak de India is upon developing hockey in the poorer areas, but a wider-reaching outcome has been to get more children exercising, developing their communication and social skills and raising their levels of self-confidence. One man's dream and the Dutch community's collective effort has thus transformed lives in India.

Article by B. G. Joshi

he Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London, was the venue of the 2015 Unibet EuroHockey Men's and Women's Championships.

The depth of European men's hockey is what makes EuroHockey Men's Championship the toughest men's continental championships in the world. Just consider this - out of the 10 confirmed Rio Olympic Men's hockey spots thus far, 50% are from Europe. For all the hockey that is played in Asia, there will be 1 and only 1 Asian men's hockey team at Rio - India.

1st-placed Netherlands won 5 of its 5 matches in the tournament. Last placed Russia lost 5 of its 5 matches in the tournament. For surprising bronze medallists Ireland, this was their first ever medal at the elite hockey level, and a harbinger of greater laurels in store for the gritty Irish team.

The final standings in the EuroHockey Men's Championships are shown in the table below:

Rank	Country	P	W	L	D	GF	GA
1	Netherlands	5	5	0	0	19	1
2	Germany	5	3	1	1	16	10
3	Ireland	5	2	2	1	10	10
4	England	5	2	2	1	18	9
5	Belgium	5	3	1	1	20	13
6	Spain	5	2	3	0	13	12
7	France	5	1	4	0	15	21
8	Russia	5	0	5	0	7	42

The following were the individual awards in the EuroHockey Men's Championship:

• Top Scorer of the Tournament: Tom Boon (BEL) -10 goals
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: David Harte (IRL)
• Player of the Tournament: Florian Fuchs (GER)

In the EuroHockey Women's Championship, home team favourites England won the women's gold medal. This was only their second ever EuroHockey title, having won their first 24 years ago. Goalkeeper Maddie Hinch saved three times in final shootout to snatch victory for England.

Netherlands showed the gender equality of their hockey programme- they made the final of both the men's and women's EuroHockey Championships.

The final standings in the EuroHockey Women's Championships are shown in the table below:

Rank	Country	P	W	L	D	GF	GA
1	England	5	4	0	1	12	5
2	Netherlands	5	4	0	1	25	3
3	Germany	5	3	2	0	12	7
4	Spain	5	1	3	1	13	15
5	Belgium	5	3	1	1	9	9
6	Scotland	5	2	3	0	7	6
7	Italy	5	0	4	1	5	14
8	Poland	5	0	4	1	2	26

The following were the individual awards in the EuroHockey Women's Championship:

• Top Scorer of the Tournament: Caia van Maasakker (NED) -5 goals
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Yvonna Frank (GER)
• Player of the Tournament: Alex Danson (ENG)

The capacity crowd for the men's and women's semi-finals and finals brough the event to a grand close.

This was my maiden visit to London, and I am thankful to European Hockey Federation for granting me accreditation for the tournament, which was a memorable experience for me.

Photograph courtesy Royal Spanish Hockey Federation

s part of their preparations for the Hockey World League finals later this year, India toured Europe and played two countries who are not in the top 10 in the world - world no. 17 France and world no. 11 Spain.

India expectedly won most of the matches, with the results as shown below:

Country	Venue	Date	Result	Goal Scorers (India)
France	Le Touquet	Aug 3	India 2 - France 0	Chinglensana Singh (18 min) S. V. Sunil (26 min)
	Wattignies	Aug 5	India 4 - France 1	Gurjinder Singh (14, 44 min), both PCs Mohammad Amir Khan (30 min), PC Rupinder Pal Singh (52 min), PC
Spain	Sant Cugat del Valles	Aug 10	Spain 4 - India 1	S. V. Sunil (11 min)
		Aug 12	India 2 - Spain 0	Ramandeep Singh (17 min) Akashdeep Singh (33 min)
	Terrassa	Aug 13	India 4 - Spain 2	Rupinder Pal Singh (24 min), PC Akashdeep Singh (45 min) Ramandeep Singh (50, 51 min)

The Indian team for the 2-country European tour was as follows:

Goalkeepers: P. R. Sreejesh, Harjyot Singh

Defenders: V. R. Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Birendra Lakra, Jasjeet Singh Kular

Midfielders: Sardar Singh (captain), Chinglensana Singh, Danish Mujtaba, S. K. Uthappa, Satbeer Singh, Devendar Sunil Valmeeki

Forwards: S. V. Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Talvinder Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mohammand Amir Khan

Officials: Chief Coach - Roelant Oltmans, Assistant Coaches - Sandeep Sangvan, Tushar Khandkar

Champions Air India, with coach Dhanraj Pillai in the centre back

he 11th PMC Bank Guru Teg Bahadur Gold Cup hockey tournament was held from August 18-27, 2015 at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai.

Eight outstation teams, along with two local qualifiers (Madhya Railway and Union Bank), participated in the tournament, and were divided into two pools as follows:

• Pool A: Sthal Sena (Army), Paschim Railway, Bharat Petroleum, ONGC, Union Bank
• Pool B: Dakshin Madhya Railway, Indian Oil, Air India, Uttar Railway, Madhya Railway

Air India and Sthal Sena reached the final of the Murugappa Gold Cup, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Air India	Date	Sthal Sena
Pool	Aug 20	beat Madhya Railway 3-2	Aug 20	lost to ONGC 2-6
	Aug 22	beat Uttar Railway 5-3	Aug 21	beat Union Bank 6-1
	Aug 23	beat Dakshin Madhya Railway 2-1	Aug 23	beat Pashchim Railway 6-4
	Aug 24	lost to Indian Oil 2-6	Aug 24	drew with Bharat Petroleum 2-2
Semi-final	Aug 26	beat ONGC 1-1 (6-5 PS)	Aug 26	beat Madhya Railway 1-1 (2-0 PS)
FINAL	Aug 27	beat Sthal Sena 0-0 (3-1 PS)

In the final, Air India beat defending champion Sthal Sena in a penalty shootout, after regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie. Air India last won the title back in 2008. The winning team got 1.5 lakh, while the runners-up received 75,000.

Air India's goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza won the Player of the final award, while Sthal Sena's goalkeeper Najmudeen was declared as the Goalkeeper of the tournament.

Alex Danson of England in the 2015 EuroHockey Championships, photo copyright Koen Suyk

he Photograph of the Month for September 2015 is of England's Alex Danson in the 2015 EuroHockey Championship.

The following text is written by Dil Bahra from London, who maintains the Sikh Hockey Olympians website.

There have been a few great action photographs in our sport of hockey over the years but this one by Dutch photographer Koen Suyk tops them all. This photograph was taken on Wednesday, 26th August, 2015 during the England's pool match with Germany at the Unibet EuroHockey Championships at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The photograph captures England striker Alex Danson's sheer unfettered determination to get the ball. She scored a hat trick in England's 4-1 win over Germany to progress to the semi-finals.

Koen, a photographer for over 40 years, has covered seven Olympic Games, with hockey, golf and tennis as his specialties.

Hockey India President Narendra Batra with HIL Sponsor Hero MotoCorp CEO Pavan Munjal

ockey India has done something unfair, if not blatantly illegal - discriminate on the basis of age for a specific subset of individuals.

Hockey India has decided not to include any player above the age of 30 in the auction pool for the cash-rich Hockey India League (HIL). However, this rule applies to Indian players only, while foreign players do not have this restriction.

Instead of letting merit and talent drive the auction pool, Hockey India, under president Narendra Batra, came up with a country-specific age bar that will leave the HIL 2016 edition bereft of domestic star power.

There will be no Olympian Adrian D'Souza in the 2015 auction pool .Thanks to Adrian's heroics under the bar, Air India won the Guru Tegh Bahadur Cup in Mumbai. However, at age 31, Adrian does not meet Hockey India's arbitrarily imposed age cutoff for auction eligibility.

Indian Oil Corporation is India's top domestic team. They won 7 All-India tournaments in 2014, and the Murugappa Gold Cup in 2015, riding on the performances of their star forwards Prabhjyot Singh and Deepak Thakur. However, both these players will be ineligible because of Hockey India's arbitrary and unfair age limit imposed upon Indian players.

When the auction happens in September this year, there would be more than 20 foreign players above 30 years in the auction pool, but not a single Indian above 30. Such an illogical and illegal rule occurs in no other sporting league in the country.

Title sponsor Hero MotoCorp will naturally be concerned. Only a subset of the best players will be on display in the league that bears their name. On any given day, the Dutch hockey league Hoofdklasse is superior to the HIL, as the Dutch league has no such age restrictions. The HIL is not an age-restricted league, the HIL is not a junior hockey league, the HIL is a league of the best available hockey players, Indian and international.

Even the franchises are complaining - after all it is their money, and their decision on whom to hire. Not allowing talented players due to selective application of an age limit will dilute their franchise's brand value.

"This is unfair. A blanket rule will take away some good players from the Hockey India League. Those sitting in the auction are well aware of how the players have been performing. So if the player is not good enough, he will never get any bids," said a source attached to a franchise.

Said an Olympian, "Discarding players over a certain age is not the solution. In world hockey, the 30s is the age when a player has completely matured. If the foreign players can play at age over 30, why can't Indian players?"

If this foolish criteria were to be applied to foreign players also, there will be no Jamie Dwyer (36) of Australia, no Matias Paredes (33) of Argentina, no Simon Mantell (31) of England, no Oliver Korn (31) of Germany, no Ryan Archibald (34) and Phil Burrows (35) of New Zealand and no Ramon Alegre (34) of Spain.

If the great Dhyan Chand were alive today, Hockey India would have made sure that the Wizard would not have participated in the HIL by virtue of this rule.

Such is the problem faced by sportspersons where the federation is run on the whims and fancies of just one man, who can never be wrong. Or so he thinks.

A still from the documentary Hockey in my Blood, Article by Krutika Behrawala, courtesy Mid-Day

here were 3 screenings in Mumbai of the documentary Hockey in my Blood as shown below:

Date	Time	Venue	Address
Aug 28, 2015	6:15 pm	Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)	Room 4, Main Campus, Sion Trombay Road, Deonar
Aug 28, 2015	7:00 pm	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay	Lecture Theatre/PC Saxena Auditorium, opp. Civil Engg. Building
Aug 29, 2015	4:00 pm	RR III Theatre, Films Division, 10th Floor	24 Dr. Gopalrao Deshmukh Marg (Peddar Road)

The preview that appeared on August 28, 2015 in Mumbai-based publication Mid-Day is given below.

On a muddy ground bordered by the lush rocky terrain in the southern hill district of Coorg (Kodagu), young boys begin a hockey tournament as a Kodava song plays in the background. When translated, it goes something like:

A festival has begun in Coorg
A big festival of Kodava families
Madanda family's name
The 2013 Hockey Festival

This scene is part of Hockey In My Blood, a documentary by Bangalore-based National Award-winning filmmaker Sandhya Kumar. Produced by Coloured Glass Films, this 52-minute-long documentary in English and Kodava Takk will be screened for the first time in Mumbai this weekend.

Every summer, Kodavas, a martial-tribal community native to Kodagu, compete in a unique inter-family hockey festival with one of the families hosting the tournament each year. This documentary focuses on the 17th edition, hosted by Mandanda Family in 2013.

"When I first heard about this tournament, I was fascinated that over 200 family-based teams come together to play such a tournament every year. When I did more research, I realised how few people knew about this event, even in Bengaluru, and that a film on this subject had never been made before. For me, this seemed like a film that was waiting to be made," elaborates Kumar, who chose to showcase the Kodava social set up through her lens.

"I wanted to look at Kodagu's society and its relationship with hockey, and show the role that hockey plays in their lives and mindsets," she adds.

From individual players dribbling in the backyard of their coffee plantations to whole family teams practising in local school grounds, the film also includes the story of a 17-year-old girl Priya, who was made the captain the very first time she played in the festival because she was the only girl in the team.

Former Olympians A. B. Subbaiah and C. S. Poonacha speak with nostalgia about their young days in Kodagu.

In production for two years, Kumar travelled to Kodagu several times with a crew of four members during the making.

"One of the biggest challenges that we faced during our research was that there are no books or scholarly data that analyses the Kodava Hockey Festival from a sociological or historical perspective. We received the information only through meetings with various people during the course of this documentary. My learning about the tournament itself was also primarily on the ground," Sandhya sums up.

One Million Hockey Legs

he September 2015 Visitor of the Month is Rob van Ness, who sent out the following mail to BharatiyaHockey.org.

Greetings from the Netherlands. Pleasure to inform you about what's happening at One Million Hockey Legs. We invite you to have a look at the August 2015 newsletter. Highlights include:

• Official Launch of 1MHL by the Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands
• Launch of 1MHL website by our partner All United
• Edelgrass and HR Group coming on board as Partners
• Participation at the ASSOCHAM Summit in Ahmedabad
  
  

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

he September 2015 edition of Fun with Numbers is on the qualifiication process for 2016 Rio Olympics men's hockey tournament. Only 12 countries can participate in the Olympic men's hockey tournament.

The countries which have qualified for Rio Olympics men's hockey competition so far are:

No.	Country	Qualifying Tournament	Qualifying Criteria
1	India	2014 Asian Games (Incheon)	Asian Games Champion
2	Germany	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Buenos Aires)	HWL Semis Champion
3	Argentina	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Buenos Aires)	HWL Semis Runner Up
4	Netherlands	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Buenos Aires)	HWL Semis 3rd Place
5	Australia	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Antwerp)	HWL Semis Champion
6	Belgium	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Antwerp)	HWL Semis Runner Up
7	Great Britain	2015 Hockey World League Semis (Antwerp)	HWL Semis 3rd Place
8	Brazil	2015 Pan Am Games	Top 6 Finish in Pan Am Games
9	Canada	2015 Pan Am Games (won by already qualified Argentina)	Finished #4 in HWL Semis
10	Spain	2015 EuroHockey Championships (won by already qualified Netherlands)	Finished #5 in HWL Semis
11	?	2015 Oceania Cup (October 21-25, 2015)
12	?	2015 Africa Cup for Nations (October 17-25, 2015)

On October 25, 2015, the last two spots of the 2016 Olympic hockey tournament will be decided.

Going by past history, either Australia or New Zealand will win the Oceania Cup, and either South Africa or Egypt will win the Africa Cup for Nations. Here is how the scenarios will play out as far as the Rio Olympics qualifications is concerned.

Oceania Cup Winner	Africa Cup Winner	Rio Olympics Men's Hockey Spot No. 11	Rio Olympics Men's Hockey Spot No. 12
Australia	South Africa	Ireland (Finished #5 in the HWL Semis)	New Zealand (Finished #6 in the HWL Semis)
Australia	Egypt	Ireland (Finished #5 in the HWL Semis)	Egypt (Continental Winner)
New Zealand	South Africa	New Zealand (Continental Winner)	Ireland (Finished #5 in the HWL Semis)
New Zealand	Egypt	New Zealand (Continental Winner)	Egypt (Continental Winner)

If South Africa wins the Africa Cup for Nations hockey, no team from Africa will be in the Rio Olympics men's hockey competition. This is because the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has decreed that qualifying through the continental route was not enough, and that South Africa had to be in the top 6 of the Hockey World League (HWL) semi-finals. South Africa did not even qualify for the HWL semi-finals.