Hockey sticks, astroturf, shoes: Talent hunt in Naxal-hit districts sparks dreams

But then came hope, in the form of Sports Action toward Harnessing Aspiration of Youth (SAHAY), a talent scouting scheme started by the state government as a pilot in 2021 in five Maoist-hit districts of West Singhbhum, Gumla, Khunti, Saraikela-Kharsawan and Simdega.

The scheme, aimed at ensuring boys and girls in the 14-19 age group are “not misguided”, has been scouting for sporting talent in four disciplines: basketball, volleyball, hockey and athletics.

That’s how Soymurum held the hockey stick for the first time. With some training and follow-up matches, he has now made it to the district team.

Soymurum can’t name any favourite hockey player. He isn’t setting his sights too far either. All he knows is that he can play his favourite game. “I am excited that I can play hockey wearing shoes and with real hockey sticks. My village does not have proper roads, and we draw water from wells and other sources. My parents sent me to Bandhgaon block just so that I can finish my studies, and not fall prey to violence…I had even forgotten hockey, but then came this opportunity. It’s a dream come true,” he says.

Soymurum is scheduled to appear for his Class 12 examination soon, but he isn’t too worried. “I have studied enough… I will pass,” he smiles.

“SAHAY is in place in conflict areas. The idea is to nurture the adolescent age group of 14-19 through sports. We are also scouting for talent with an aim to supplement the existing talent pool of the state government,” said Pranay Prasoon, senior consultant, Policy and Development Advisory Group, an advisory body to the Jharkhand government that has been instrumental in implementing SAHAY.

A state government source said that information on the scheme was sent out to 688 panchayats in the five districts. Word was also sent out through teachers and other officials, who convinced the village heads to help with identifying local talent. “Initially, the matches were conducted in several blocks. Now, we are holding a state-level meet with 30 teams from these five districts competing in hockey, volleyball and football. In athletics, we have four categories with six players in each,” the source said.

Pandu Kandulna has been to Ranchi before. But the 18-year-old has never been part of any residential training centre or centre of excellence – the Jharkhand government’s existing system to train hockey players – because none of these schemes ever made it to his Usram village in Jalasar panchayat, around 45 kilometres from Bandhgaon block.

“My father worked hard in the fields and bought me hockey shoes and playing sticks. But I didn’t know what to do about my passion for hockey. Now I hope to represent my state… I want to do something for my village too. No ambulance comes to our village,” said Kandulna, who, like Soymurum, stays in Bandhgaon where he is enrolled in a school and is preparing for his Class 12 exams.

“I pay a rent of Rs 300 for the room and cook twice a day. “Once a month, I am able to afford chicken curry.” He says he loves the food in Ranchi. “For breakfast, they give us poori sabzi and vegetables, and rice and curry for lunch. We also got egg curry twice.”

A resolution on SAHAY by the state’s Department of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs states that the players will receive a kit during the state-level matches and an “encouragement amount” if they win the series. Rs 10,000 is allotted to each team member of the winning team, and Rs 5,000 for the runner-up.

A senior state official said a key aspect of SAHAY is the empowerment of girls: “This will provide an escape from forced marriages, which continues to take place in a few parts of Jharkhand.”

At the turf-pitch, Pundi Saru, who is in her teens, dribbles the ball to pass it to her teammate. Pundi is from Hesal, a tribal village in Khunti district of Jharkhand. Until recently, she played with sticks and had no shoes. The village is home to Nikki Pradhan, the India defender who was part of the team that played in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. On Friday, before she walks onto the gleaming astroturf, Saru says, “I will be like Nikki Pradhan. I will represent my country.”