Birsa Munda Vidyapeeth boys have won, both, the sub-junior and the junior titles of Nehru Hockey Cup
If you had made an assumption of the results based on the size of the players during the Nehru Junior Hockey Cup final, the title for sure would have gone in favour of the team from Jalandhar. But hockey is more about skill play and the Birsa Munda Vidyapeeth proved they have that in plenty, as they roped in both the sub-junior and junior titles at the Nehru Hockey Cup.
According to Birsa Munda Vidyapeeth coach Bijay Lakra, he was sure about his team's success even before the start of the game and keeping patience was the mantra of their success.
“See we have always been favourites whenever we have come here. Other teams are scared of playing us and are under tremendous pressure before the game. There is a lot of psychological pressure on other teams when they hear about our school being their competitors,” said Bijay Lakra after the game.
On the size difference of his boys vis-à-vis some of the competitors, especially teams from Punjab and Haryana, the coach said that there was no question of any intimidation.
“There is no question of intimidation. They might be bigger in size but in skills we are better. I advice my boys to play patiently and that helps. The other teams employ rough skills which give us an advantage as they tend to give us a lot of free hits. My boys are here to play skillful hockey and therefore size factor does not matter,” added the coach.
On what made stalwarts come out from that part of the country again and again, Lakra said that hockey was ingrained in the culture of Odisha and kids started playing even before they understood the game.
“Hockey is a part of our culture, the rich Oriya culture. The kids there pick up sticks even before they start understanding the game in totality. They have seen many good players come from the hostel and want to replicate those success stories.”
“I can say that hockey is also one way to elevate in society in our part. Lot of kids, who play get jobs in the government sector. So the parents also promote hockey and are not against their child playing the game. Another reason is that the only recreation game in that part of the country is hockey. So people do get attracted,” said the coach, who has in this season led both the sub-junior and the junior team to title wins in their respective leagues.
But how one learns the modern technique in those hinterlands is a major question that may trouble anyone. Not for Lakra. The man added that there were three coaches there and with the help of the government, the hostel has three synthetic turfs for practice and all this made it a really congenial atmosphere to learn and play the national game.
By the time we finish talking, the boys from the East pick up their coach and start rejoicing with the trophy. It’s good to see young boys of that age look happy doing something in a sport which is nowhere closer cricket in popularity.
Seeing these kids, one can safely assume that the Odisha is fit to produce more champions like the Tirkey’s and the Kindo’s. The need of the hour is to feed them all assistance needed. The problem though is that in a country whose national game’s top administration is in shambles, who will come forward to take care of the nursery.
By Rohit Sakunia
