World Series Hockey Final

Today, on April 2^nd, 2012, exactly one year after the day India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup against Australia, the memories of the after-win frenzy are still fresh in my mind. I remember that soon after India won last year on April 2^nd, traffic jammed in a small city like Jalandhar at midnight, a time when usually not a single soul can be seen out on the streets on normal nights. I don’t think I can ever forget the team spirit I saw in people’s eyes that night. There was absolutely no way you could enter the city without taking some back road. There were literally thousands of cars parked on the streets with Indian flags being furled, music being played at ridiculous volumes, people cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs, live dholis going crazy amongst groups of college students and little kids standing and dancing their hearts out on the bonnets of their parents’ cars.

One year has gone by since that victory and people still get teary eyed as they switch on the TV and watch Mahendra Singh Dhoni recite the minute to minute memory of that day in a McDowell Premium Soda ad. And in all this craziness of the Cricket World Cup memories of April 2^nd, 2011 and the upcoming IPL cricket matches, most people don’t even realize that today also happens to be the final match of the World Series Hockey League. If you are someone who is reading this and wondering what the World Series Hockey is, welcome to the club of people who do not deserve to be called Indian.

World Series Hockey is an initiative of the Indian Hockey Federation to get the youth excited about hockey and reinstate this sport in India. It is a league concept similar to that of the IPL that drafts some of the best players from India and across the world. The World Series Hockey marked its first season with 8 franchisee-based teams on 29^th February, 2012 and will be ending today on April 2^nd, 2012 with its final match scheduled in Mumbai.  The 8 World Series Hockey teams are Bhopal Badshahs, Chandigarh Comets, Chennai Cheetahs, Delhi Wizards, Karnataka Lions, Mumbai Marines, Pune Strykers and my personal favorite (of course) Sher-E-Punjab. To learn more about the how the league works and get results of all past games played, you can visit the World Series Hockey website.

Coming from Jalandhar, a city that has been the birthplace and training mecca to some of the best Indian hockey players of the century, I have always had a special place in my heart for this sport. I have personally sat and watched several hockey training sessions when I used to go for my own swimming and waterpolo practices at Sports College, Jalandhar for several years. I can tell you from my experience that these hockey players were like nothing you have seen. Ours was a national level waterpolo team but as soon as we leaped out of the pool and went over to the hockey ground, nothing that we did with a huge ball in the water could compare to what these guys were doing with a tiny ball and a long stick on the field. I remember sometimes sitting there for hours watching the hockey players practice and telling myself that I was in the wrong sport. These guys were truly talented and their performance was totally international.

With my love for Jalandhar and everything it produces, including international hockey stars, it is obvious that I feel pity when I see people in this city especially youngsters having no interest in watching or following hockey. So, it wasn’t surprising to me at all when I tried to have a discussion about tonight’s final match with someone and they had absolutely no idea what the hell I was talking about. Not knowing what World Series Hockey is one thing, but what pained me even more was when I found out that most people weren’t even aware that the Indian Hockey team recently qualified for the upcoming London Olympics. Now, doesn’t that give you any less of a reason to celebrate than the Cricket team making it to the World Cup? And the worst part is that the youth of Jalandhar (a city that has lived for hockey since generations) who were beaming high during the Cricket World Cup win last year, did not even care to attend the World Series Hockey matches that were played in the city at the Surjit Singh International Hockey Stadium last month. Really sad and unfortunate! 

Although this season went pretty unnoticed, I still believe that the World Series Hockey League is a fantastic idea because it is only with time, awareness and the help of the right brand names, that hockey can find its true place in India. I truly appreciate Bridgestone coming ahead to the rescue by becoming the main sponsor of World Series Hockey League. Although, Vodafone and Seagram Blue also joined in as co-sponsors, this league is still far away from getting the kind of support that cricket receives in our country both in terms of fans and money. There are no Shahrukh Khans, Preity Zintas or Ambanis who want to own a hockey team, rather these teams are being financed by true sports enthusiasts such as the Chennai Sports Organizers Pvt. Ltd., Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. , and Sai Grace Sports & Events Pvt. Ltd. If you ever had the opportunity to see an ad on TV for World Series Hockey, there was no Shilpa Shetty dancing on full 5 minute specially created theme song, instead you see a pathetic Sunil Sheity, brand ambassador of the league, say two useless lines about joining him to watch the matches in a 10 second commercial (which I saw literally once in the entire league season). With such poor marketing and little financial or high brand support, World Hockey Series will continue to lag behind in gathering the fans in masses when compared to cricket. 

It’s sad that India, a country with a population of 1.21 billion, has forgotten that their national game is hockey and not cricket. It’s an unfortunate situation but not a hopeless one. I have really high hopes from our country’s hockey talent and I am keeping my fingers crossed for our Olympic team. I am sure a time will come when hockey will get its true appreciation amongst fans and sponsors alike, a time when people will learn to look beyond the superficial glamour quotient and take a deeper look into what these players are truly made of. With my hopes high to see hockey shining like a bright star in the sports arena of our country in the future, I look forward, for now, to see my Shers of Punjab smash the Pune Strykers tonight at 9 PM and bring the first World Hockey Series title to their homeground of Jalandhar. Prabhjot Singh and team - Chak De!

Sher-E-Punjab: Victory!
Pune Strykers: Peace out!