Over 300 colleges, more than 2.5 lakh students, yet only 4 hockey teams in GU!

This is despite the fact that every year each student pays Rs 20 to the GU and their respective colleges as gymkhana and sports fees. But if the officials are to be believed, the funds are not used suitably to revive the sport, in which India remained unbeaten at the Olympics from 1928 to 1956.

“Only the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad has a proper and good hockey ground. We will not find a hockey ground even in the GU campus that spends lakhs for uplifting and upgrading sports other than the national game,” a senior official of the Sports Authority of Gujarat told Newsline.

“There are no doubts that the craze towards hockey is fading with each passing day. Also, the budget which the GU and colleges gets for the development of hockey in the state is not being utilised properly,” said N J Chaniyara of the Physical Education Department, H L College of Commerce.

Jwalant Bhatt, senior hockey coach, Gujarat College, feels the biggest problem that the game is facing today is that most players do not have access to opportunities. “There is a need to make the players independent and self-respected,” he added.

Dharmashih Desai, Secretary, Ahmedabad Zonal Local Sports Committee, said the university appoints several hockey coaches but “they are not asked to do any work.”

He added: “They do everything except coaching. They are not interested and the GU is also not paying attention towards improvising the situation.”

Partiv Raj, vice president of Gujarat unit of the National Students' Union of India, said that instead of spending money on the promotion of hockey, colleges spend money on fashion shows and dance shows.

“It is shameful not only for colleges, but also for GU. The future of hockey in the GU affiliated colleges is in danger,” he added.