Hockey The ancient game

Hockey is one of the worlds most ancient games. It is older

than even the ancient Olympic Games. The British Empire
made hockey popular in the Indian sub-continent in the late
nineteenth century. The first hockey club was formed in
Calcutta in 1885. There were no major national
tournaments during that time. In 1895, Beighton Cup in
Calcutta and Aga Khan Tournament in Bombay were
organized.
Game of India Hockey
Despite the ever-growing popularity of cricket, Hockey has
managed to hold a respectful status among popular games
played across the globe. It is often referred as the National
Game but no official gazette has been released in this
regard. The peak time of Indian hockey team was from 1928
to 1956, when it brought all the six consecutive Olympic
gold medals home that were held during those years. The
end of its glory were perhaps the result of the death of the
star hero Dhyan Chand, the introduction of Astroturf (still a
rarity in India) and the migration of many hockey-playing
Anglo Indians to Australia. Recently, the few wins have
rekindled the interest of the Indians in the forgotten game
and have managed to grab a little bit of attention to the
hockey sport team starts such as Dhanraj Pillay.
Journey of Indian Hockey
India did not have any governing body for hockey. On 7th
November, 1925 all the hockey associations and clubs
congregated in Gwalior. This meeting led to the formation
of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). The Indian players got
the international exposure after the formation of IHF.
Indias first international tour was to New Zealand. India
played 21 matches, won 18, lost one and drew two matches.
They scored 192 goals in those matches and Dhyan Chands
hockey skills befuddled the opposition in every game.
IHF applied for global affiliation and it got the approval of
International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 1927. That meant
India could participate at the 1928 Summer Olympic
Games. Hockey returned at the Olympics after 1920
Antwerp Games after a hiatus of eight years.
Hockey was chosen as the National Game because of the
teams unparalleled distinction and matchless talent at the
time. During the phase, India had played 24 Olympic
matches and won all of them scoring 178 goals and
conceding only 7 goals. The only other achievements of the
team later that are worth mentioning are the gold medal in
the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the gold medal in the 1980
Moscow Olympics. It will be a good idea to train the
talented children in hockey right from school level,
providing them the necessary funds, training and facilities
to preserve the Indian glory.
The glorious history of Indian Hockey Federation begins
with the entry of India into the Olympics games. The tour
was a huge success with India winning 18 out of the 21
matches and the legendary Dhyan Chand was the cynosure
of all the eyes scoring over 100 goals of the 192 Indian
accounted for.
During Amsterdam Olympics Games of 1928, Dhyan Chand
scored 14 goals in the tournament and India did not
concede a single goal. When the team landed in Bombay
after their triumph, it was greeted by large number of fans.
Hockey had gripped the entire nation.
The match began in Amsterdam in 1928 and India went on
a winning spree in Los Angeles in 1932 and Berlin in 1936
and thus bagged a hat-trick of gold medals at the Olympics.
Post Indian Independence; the Indian team achieved
another hat-trick of gold medals at the 1948 London
Olympics, 1952 Helsinki Games and the Melbourne
Olympics.
During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches,
won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per
match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold
medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the
1980 Moscow Olympics.
Its an honour for Hockey India to felicitate the legends who
brought the country on the forefront in the game and
because of which many teams were apprehensive while
facing us on the field. I am sure, history will repeat itself
very soon and the players of this generation too will give us
the same joy.