Catching ’em young: A nursery for future hockey stars

“We were amazed at his talent. Playing hockey comes naturally to him. He could dribble the ball like a pro,” Kamal Krishan Barida,one of the two coaches who train Rajwinder,said. Coaches fondly call the precocious child ‘Dhyan Chand’.

With 51 other children of his age,Rajwinder learns the game in a ‘hockey nursery’ founded by the Mehar Baba Charitable Trust in Bassi Pathana,30 kilometre from Chandigarh. The nursery was opened to hone skills of children in the age group of 6 to 10 years.

“There are more than 200 registered clubs in Punjab but all are for children between 14 and 16 years old. Here we provide training to small children,” Hassan Singh Mejie,advisor of the trust,said. “This is the first hockey club for children so young.”

It was during a trip to Amsterdam last year that Mejie came up with the idea of a ‘hockey nursery’

“One of my friends,a hockey coach,told me why Holland was among the top teams in the world. He took me to a ground where I saw players in Under-14,12 and 10 categories,” he said. “The training method for these children was different. Young players would play against senior teams. They were grooming the players from a very young age. Here in India,the training starts only after the age of 14. So,we decided to come up with a hockey nursery.”

The nursery was started in October last year. But soon,coaches had a problem at hand — whom should their ‘players’ compete with,as there was no other club in this age category in Punjab.

“We invited clubs which train children from 12 to 14 years old to play matches with our players on Sunday. From Tuesday to Saturday,these young players undergo training and on Sundays,they play matches,” Prof Hardarshan Singh Mejie,founder trustee of the trust,said.

But there was another problem. There was no girl team in the region to compete against the small girls of the nursery — the club has 26 boys and 26 girls.

“With no other choice,we decided to make the girls’ team compete with the senior boys’ team. Initially,they had some inhibitions about playing against boys two to three years their senior. But they have started to do well,” Hansraj Chhabra,coach of Audit General (AG) Punjab team,said.

Chhabra,who lives in Bassi Pathana,visits the nursery every Saturday and Sunday and give tips to the children.

“These players are too young. So we train them only in basics like how to pass the ball and dribble. The boys have definitely done well than the girls but the girls are also picking up,” Chhabra said.

In their match on Sunday,the small players beat the Dashmesh Club (12 to 16 years category) by 2-0; the girls’ team drew the match against the same team.

Now,the trust will send two of its little players — Dishant and Sameer Malhotra — for admission in the Chandigarh Hockey Academy. Also,Jaspreet,Manpreet and Kuldip Singh will take the Sports Authority of India (SAI) trials in Sonepat.