Umpires Association conducts Monsoon Hockey League cum Knock-Out tournament

While the Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India are yet to reach a consensus regarding the official body of the sport in the country,the Umpires Association of Pune is currently conducting the Monsoon Hockey League cum Knock-out tournament in the city.

While the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Hockey India (HI) are yet to reach a consensus regarding the official body of the sport in the country,the Umpires Association of Pune is currently conducting the Monsoon Hockey League cum Knock-out tournament in the city. Held under the auspices of the Maharashtra Hockey Association (MHA) and the Pune District Hockey Association (PDHA),the tournament,which began in July 15 will commence on July 31. We wanted to conduct the tournament as there have been no league tournaments in the city for the last two years, says Shridharan Thamba,secretary of the Umpires Association of Pune. The matches will be held at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in Pimpri,with 12 teams participating in the tournament.

Under the agreement between IHF and HI,the IHF is in-charge of all local tournaments that go right till the national level,while HI is mainly responsible for sending the national squad for international tournaments. Stanley DSouza,secretary of the Umpires Association says,Under the MHA in the last two years we have had only the Aga Khan National Hockey tournament and the Mayors cup in Pune. Our main concern was the fact that no league was organised in the two years. Hence the idea for this league came up.

The prize money for the league has been fixed at Rs 10,000 and a trophy for the winners and Rs 5,000 and a trophy for the runners-up. The money has been sponsored by the PDHA.

Thamba mentions that while it has not been very easy for them to find funds but the job has not been cakewalk either. Basic logistics also need to be worked out. Like we have to provide a new match ball during every match,giving the players as well as the umpires isotonic drinks so that they can be hydrated on the field and also provide the umpires with fresh match game shirts. All these things have not been easy for us to manage but people have always helped us, he says.

While there were no reasons given as to why the MHA has not been conducting the league DSouza maintains that they were given the green signal to conduct the tournament. The 16-day tournament began on July 15 and will end on July 31.

We started it on July 15 as it was also Olympian Dhanraj Pillays birthday that day. Another reason for conducting the tournament is because we have not had any major players from the Khadki representing the nation after people such as Dhanraj and Vikram Pillay. We do not wish to delve into the reasons behind them but we surely do hope that tournaments like these will help develop more talent from the city on a national basis, DSouza added.

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