This year, for a group of women and girls, Women’s Day will be all about proving their hockey skills on the field. A total of 15 veteran women players of a hockey club have pooled in money to organise a tournament for women teams from Chennai and neighbouring districts on Sunday.
The tournament, named “We are For Hockey Trophy - Women Nine A Side”, is being hosted by “We Are For Hockey Club” and it will be played at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Egmore from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The winners and runners-up will be given trophies.
“We wanted to celebrate the Women’s Day in a unique manner and as we are all veteran players, who picked up the hockey sticks again after nearly two decades, we decided to host a hockey tournament,” said Rekha J., president of the club which has 15 members, including Sheela Sukumar, vice-president, Lakshmi Vaikunth, secretary of the club, Rasna Anthony, joint secretary, members Thilagam Karthik, Teena Sumesh, Thenmozhi Varadarajan, Menaka Munisekhar, Mecklish James, Teresa Bella, Menega, Meghalatha N., Lakshmi Prabha, Rajeshwari L. and Sarumathi Ramesh.
Sixteen teams from Chennai and neighbouring districts, including Chengalpattu, will be taking part in the competition. “Usually, a team will consist of 11 players and seven substitutes and a match will be held for an hour split into four quarters. But, since it is a one-day tournament, we are organising match with nine members per team and a match will last half an hour,” added Ms. Rekha.
The team members said they pooled in money to organise the event. “We asked for money from our relatives. Some people offered banners at subsidised prices. We just want people to come for the match and enjoy it. There will be many stalls too,” she added.
M. Renuka Lakshmi, general secretary, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, said the future was bright for women’s hockey. “Many senior players want to take part in the tournament,” she said.