Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 9

Five players from the district in both men and women national hockey teams is no mean feat!

The question most people are asking these days is how come not one or two, but five players are from one district in the national teams? The answer lies in hockey academies catching budding players young and preparing them up for national and international championships.

These five players are Shamsher Singh of Attari village, Dilpreet Singh of Butala, Gurjant Singh of Khaliara village and Harmanpreet Singh of Timmowal village. Besides, Gurjit Kaur, a drag flicker from Miadi Kalan village in Ajnala tehsil, who had learnt the nuances of the game from Government School, Kairon village, in Tarn Taran district. Gurjant, Dilpreet and Shamsher were all products of hockey academies.

Dilpreet and Shamsher learnt the basics of the game from local Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy (MRSHA), which was set up in 2005 by veteran hockey players, lovers and enthusiasts to promote hockey in the region. So far, the academy has trained 700 players. Each year, 60 players between the age group of 12 and 19 years are inducted into the academy and they are given free education, books and uniforms by Spring Dale Senior School. The academy spends between Rs23 lakh and Rs27 lakh annually on players. So far, the academy has produced 150 national players and seven international players, including three Olympians — Shamsher, Dilpreet and Ramandeep Singh, who played in the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Academy’s coach Kuljit Singh Bamrah recalled that Dilpreet was with the academy from Classes VI to IX. Shamsher got trained in hockey with the academy when he studied in Class VI and VII.

Dilpreet’s father Balwinder Singh, who had played the nationals from 1990 to 1996, said: “My son started playing hockey at Baba Palha Sports Club and Social Welfare Society-run hockey academy at Butala village. The academy produced over 30 national and international players. Of these players, 20 got government jobs due to their performance in hockey.

Similarly, Gurjant’s father Baldev Singh said hockey was not played in their village — Khaliara. On learning his interest in hockey, he was admitted to Cheema Hockey Academy, Shahbad village, in Batala in Class V and he learnt the basics for one-and-a-half years.

Harmanpreet’s father Sarbjit Singh recalled that a sports coach Joginder Singh Dhillon suggested him to train him in the sport after seeing him playing hockey when he was in Class V. So, he got him admitted to Karam Singh hockey academy in Jalandhar in Class VI.

Prepping up game enthusiasts for national, int’l championships

• Five players from the district — Shamsher Singh of Attari village, Dilpreet Singh of Butala, Gurjant Singh of Khaliara village and Harmanpreet Singh of Timmowal village — were part of the Indian hockey team for the Olympics.
• Besides, Gurjit Kaur, a drag flicker in Indian women squad from Miadi Kalan in Ajnala tehsil, learnt the nuances of the game from Govt School, Kairon village, Tarn Taran.
• Gurjant, Dilpreet and Shamsher were all products of hockey academies.