“We will play for India, one day!”

“We should not get angry on our team-mates when they make a mistake of a wrong pass,” says a 12-13 year old boy with a glitter in his eyes.

“From Chak De India movie, I learnt how to stage a comeback in the next match after losing one,” a defender says.

“My role model is Santi Sir,” says another attacker of the team.

These are children from Vinay Kumar High School, Ananthpur. The school team is one of the outstation participants in the ongoing Jude Felix Hockey Academy Inter School Tournament, at KSHA Stadium, Bangalore.

Beaming with the confidence, they have out rightly come with one motive, “We are here to win.”

No upsets on the 1st day for them, as they beat both their opponent team comprehensively.

30 children from Vinay Kumar High School, Ananthpur are a part of Rural Development Trust (RDE), whose project ‘Stick For India’ is run by Spaniard players, Santi Freixa and Andreau Enrich.

The children follow a rigorous schedule with 4 hours of Hockey training every day, 2 hours each in morning and evening, not to forget the day that is spent at school. The children reside in hostel where RDE takes care of all their needs with continuous patronage from the Spaniards.

Most of the children are well-versed with high-tech Hockey terminologies – Strength, Endurance, Agility, co-ordination, 1-touch pass.

Having won U-17 Ananthpur district championships and Karnataka C-Division League, the team is well visible in the regional circuit. Not restricting their knowledge on the Hockey field, they very well know, where the Hockey legend, Dhyan Chand, stands in Hockey history and that it’s on his birthday, on 29th August, every year, our country celebrates Sports Day.

Very unlike other schools that play Hockey, the team members have found inspiration in a number of international players – Santi Freixa, Gurbaj Singh, Rajpal Singh, Adrian D’Souza, Pablo Amat, Sandeep Singh, etc. Moving on from the times of Dhanraj Pillay, our youth surely has more choice of role-models now!

However, living away from home, this hard life hasn’t dampened their spirits. They get to meet their parents only once a week or a fortnight, when the parents come to meet them at their hostels. For many of them, their parents’ sayings and remembering them gives them immense strength to perform well at their trainings, the matches and their academics.

So why only Hockey, and no other sport?

“Hockey is a very intelligent and risky game,” a player responds almost spontaneously, supported by others, “and when risk is involved, there is fun!”

One of the players fondly remembers a scene from Chak De India, where the players introduce themselves to the coach, “Initially the players say that they are from various states, and then, eventually, say that they are from India.”

An avid viewer of Hockey matches, the team went to New Delhi to watch the World Cup ’10 and doesn’t miss a match broadcasted LIVE on television.

India v Spain match at the last World Cup was a heart-break for many. So, didn’t they want Spain to win because many of their role-models are Spaniards?

“No! Never! We are Indians,” is the immediate, aggressive and loud response, without a second delay.

Almost all players in this team, with reasonably promising on-field talent, want nothing less from life than the India colors, one fine day. Without a second thought, they are surely not going to settle for anything less.

Their 1st day performance in a tournament is just a feeler of what these young children are capable of.

Written on: 24th Nov 2011.