T.M. Damodaran
Former Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief
‘We need astroturfs in places that are nurseries for hockey’
Looking for immediate solutions will be the biggest mistake. Indian hockey needs to look for sustainable answers, in response to what has happened. Knee-jerk reactions never help but that is not to be taken as a pronouncement that the structure that is in place should continue. We need to seriously rebuild.
More astroturfs are absolutely essential. We’ve been losing because of that and also owing to the changes in rules that require speed and stamina. The astroturfs are the key. One thing, I can immediately think of, concerns all these billionaires whom we celebrate every year. The number of billionaires has gone up, as the media has been reporting. Why can’t each one donate two to three astroturfs in different parts of the country?
We need top-class facilities, astroturfs at the centres that have been our basic nurseries where we have a tradition for hockey: Sansarpur in Punjab, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Coorg and Kovilpattai in Tamil Nadu are some I can think of. Are we investing enough here?
There’s also an urgent need to invest in sports psychology because hockey’s not just about your skill-set, there’s a strong mental dimension to it. Also the physical standards need to be raised at a younger age.
We need better insurance for players, some of whom face career-threatening injuries. In the absence of medical back-up, players will obviously shy away from engaging in physical play, which is how hockey is required to be played these days.
Also, what has happened is not the end of the world. We should take this as an opportunity to rebuild, as a wake-up call. This is not the time to write obituaries. As a nation, we need to send across the right signal to the players saying it’s OK, and that we are behind them, and that the only thing that matters is that they have learnt their lessons.
Across all sports bodies, we should get people who’ve played the sport at the highest level on the selection committees. They know exactly what happens on the field. At the top in administration, it should be a mixture of people who’ve played the sport, and those who can wield their influence at the right places.
Ultimately, it’s all about picking the right people for the right jobs, and helping them perform to the best of their abilities.

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