City hockey fan club launches WC site, social media handles

BHUBANESWAR: To promote the Men’s Hockey World Cup and publicize its events — beginning with the inaugural ceremony to the last of the matches — a group of hockey enthusiasts in the city on Tuesday unveiled their version of tournament mascot Olly, and launched a website and social media handles.
The 40-odd hockey fans, most of who are students of the city-based Institute of Digital Media Technology, India (IDMT.In), have gone the extra mile to celebrate their love for the game and were helped by the institute in the work.

Coordinator of the fan group, Akashi Srujana, said they wanted to contribute to the efforts of the state government by promoting the tournament on the social media. “We will share daily stories on the tournament,” she said, adding, “We will also respond to people’s queries on tickets and so on. We have fan groups for cricket here but not for hockey.”

Pradeep Kumar Tripathy, director of IDMT.In, explained the genesis of the idea. “Our institute had posted some information about the World Cup and its mascot Olly on our social media handle. Some mediapersons from Spain and Brazil got in touch with us and inquired about the event. So, the students came up with the idea of sharing as much information about the event as possible on multiple platforms,” he said.

Tripathy added that Olly had the potential to become a representative of the state. “We should promote the mascot worldwide as he represents the harmonious coexistence of species and the need to protect endangered creatures. Instead of depending on the government to do it, we should come forward to popularize Olly,” he added.

The group’s Olly looks cool in a yellow cap, which bears the caption ‘My heart beats for hockey’, a blue shirt and white pants. He holds a hockey stick.