There is no wonder that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Prime Minister to give the status of National Game to hockey.
I had a privilege of visiting Sundargarh for some of my professional duties. I was a hockey player in my college days and had fascination for watching the matches.
During my visit, I was invited to watch a tournament organised by the villagers. That was a one -day tournament and some 16 teams from nearby villages were participating. The prizes are unbelievable.
As per custom, a fattened goat or Khasi and a few cocks are showcased by the organisers as the prize. The winners and runners up teams celebrate along with their prizes and the gala dinner takes place. And all are invited.
This is the way the rural and tribal Odisha enjoys. Hockey is the way of life for the tribals of Odisha. Believe me, in that year (2003), the 1,500 tribal villages of Sundargarh hosted over 200 hockey tournaments. “We play hockey at the drop of a hat,” a young player said adding, “And sometimes, even when the hat doesn't drop.”
Nobody can pinpoint exactly when and how hockey came to Sundargarh. The hockey hour is upon them. An eligible groom is judged not just by the number of bullocks he owns, but also by the goals he scores.
Weddings are solemnised with an on field face-off between families. Sundargarh district is dominated by hilly terrain, forest cover and tribal population. It also gave birth to some favourite sons to the country like Micheal Kindo, Dillip Tirkey, lazarus Barla, Prabodh Tirkey, William Xalco, Ignace Tirkey and many others. The villages have produced at least 22 world-class hockey players for India and dozens who play at the national level.
Children in Sundargarh show off their improvised sticks. There is more where they came from and it is evident as the countdown to the khasi tournament begins. An hour before the match, the field is overrun by dozens of little boys-all wannabe Dilips between five and eight years, their faces shining and their sweaty little bodies a blur as they run barefoot on the rocky ground.
It is believed hockey caught on with the tribals more than soccer and volleyball, which were also introduced in the region by the missionaries, because everything required for the sport could be found in the forests there. Even today, youngsters in the interiors of the district make their own hockey sticks by bending a kendu branch or a bamboo shoot, binding one end to create a curve and slow-heating it over fire. Youngsters make a ball by wrapping cloth around a wood apple.
Native genius is aided, some say, by native genes. Some believe there is a very good reason Sundargarh has taken to the sport because members of the 36 tribes that make up the district have the build, temperament and even the DNA. In what is another local quirk, most of Sundargarh's hockey stars play in the defence or the midfield, but not as forwards.
Sundargarh's passion for hockey has unusual spin-offs. In August 2003, Superintendent of Police YK Jethwa decided to use hockey to combat the growing Maoist menace. Shortly after he arrived in Sundargarh, there were a spate of incidents-razing of forest rest houses and trucks, looting of explosives on the highway-which were perpetrated by villagers allegedly instigated by the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).
Hockey was his instinctive weapon of choice. So the administration organised more than 12 khasi tournaments in "sensitive" areas like Bisra and Kbolang in 2003. Dozens of teams converged for a three-day contest, which also included medical camps and sittings with development authorities.
Things have been changing since last few years. Odisha has been the destination for hockey at the global level. It had hosted Champions league, World league and is going to host Hockey World Cup. The State is now housing one of the champion teams in the Indian Hockey league, Kalinga lancers. In fact, the Odia population is so inclined to hockey that Odisha sends two teams for the national meets. One is Odisha team and other is Hockey Gangpur. From this, one can estimate the love for the game.