As Jude Felix Inter School Hockey Tournament came to a close today, with St. Joseph Indian High School (goal difference +32) followed closely by runners-up Vinay Kumar HS, Ananthpur (goal difference, +28), it came as a life changing experience for another underdogs team, the only International team in the tournament – Raffles Institution Singapore.
Raffles Institution, a 187 year old school in Singapore, is one of top-ranked schools in Singapore. Thanks to the patronage by their Hockey coach, Jude Felix, they got their 1st ever chance to play with Indian Hockey players – their only international Hockey outing in the past 2 years.
Hockey isn’t much known game in Singapore. The school has seen surprising results under Jude’s training - the school is amongst the favorites in various League tournaments in Singapore.
The team that came to Bangalore comprises of 15-16 year old children, which make them eligible for B-Division games in Singapore.
The children don’t know much about World Hockey, and in fact, their awareness beyond the annual Schools Tournament –their ultimate dream is to win it in the coming year – is very limited. Their access to Hockey is only through youtube. They see their coach, Jude Felix, as their role model. Many of them find it difficult to recall a few names of Singapore national level players.
In spite of all this, this bunch of enthusiastic children picked up the sport of Hockey, when they had an opportunity to pick other popular sports in Singapore, only because of their passion and the feeling of giving back something to Jude, whom they all fondly love and admire his commitment to the game. They say, he doesn’t take Hockey as a job. It is his passion.
The children also know in a crystal clear manner that Hockey is a team game and that there is no place for individuality either.
“If a few children have problems with others off-the-field, we go and talk it out with them, remind them that on-the-field rivalry is not in the spirit of the game; there should be no differences on-the-turf,” says Harshveer.
The heart-warming and humbling experience for these kids is the interaction with the children from Maria Niketan, the orphanage where JFHA is based. The children have spent their 3 mornings at the orphanage, painting their walls with Hockey pictures and caricatures so that the wall of the environment looks more lively for the inmates.
“The experience with Maria Niketan children has changed our lives, forever. They are so kind and humble that we realize that they are so thankful to things they and we take almost everything for-granted,” says Ashraf, with an almost choked voice.
The Hockey experience also has left an indelible mark on their psyche,” The Indians play aggressive Hockey. They don’t waste a single moment on the ground. This is what we have learnt from them. Also, we play short passes amongst us, whereas, Indians are very good at long passes. For us, it’s more about technique and for the Indians, it’s about moving quickly on the field and controlling the pace of the game,” says Benjamin, the captain of the team.
About their on-field experience, Rishi, a forward, tells, “The team struggled in settling down here on the 1st day. But from the 2nd onwards, we were back to our style of Hockey.”
Indeed, that is true. Raffles Institution, who won the Fair Play Trophy at the tournament, was one of the teams with the tightest defense and the most disciplined mid-fielders – they always knew where their forwards and defenders are. Man-to-Man marking implemented by them was a treat to watch.
Having lost both their games on the opening day, they finished 3rd in the pool table. This should have been a big consolation for the team. Also, beating Maria Niketan – JFHA’s beneficiary - in the last game of the game 2-0, will be a special for them.
They thoroughly enjoyed the environment set-up by JFHA organizers, and felt that they never get such an environment, back in Singapore.
The only thing remains untouched in their Hockey lives is compliment and cheers during the game. “Yeah, it would be quite nice to have a few people cheering for us,” says Minxin, lost in the imagination of how it would be.
“Yeah, a few girls cheering would be good, too,” pitches another one with a naughty smile on his face.
The humane touch in India, unlike ever before in their lives, has left many of them overwhelmed.
“One child in the orphanage went around hugging everyone. That heartening sight is my take-back from this whole event,” says Ashraf close to breaking down as he vividly remembers the instance.
Written on: 26th Nov '11
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