Hockey activities resume in Puducherry & Tamil Nadu

Puducherry, 04 November 2020: In accordance with the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) guidelines issued in September, hockey players in Puducherry as well as Tamil Nadu have resumed sports activities keeping in mind the detailed SOP and guidelines provided by Hockey India. The detailed SOPs and guidelines were shared with all the State Member Units as early as in April 2020 with the intent to be well prepared and ready for systematic rollout.

In Tamil Nadu, while there are several restrictions due to the ongoing battle with the pandemic, about 65 players have returned to the field and have resumed limited sports activities. These players are above the age group pf 18 years and are training towards the state championships which will be a trial for the Hockey India National Championships.

Meanwhile in Puducherry, about 50 players from sub-junior, junior and senior categories have been able to resume activities in 3 different centres. Here, Le Puducherry Hockey – a State Member Unit of Hockey India is also planning to conduct Covid-19 awareness programme as well as fitness and nutrition programme for players who are resuming hockey activities.

The State Member Units got a general idea about the key aspects to keep in mind while resuming sports activities during an interactive session with Chief Coaches of the national teams and experienced national players; PR Sreejesh and Savita in September. The Chief Coaches and players spoke about their first-hand experience of how the National Camp coaches and players are following the set protocol at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru since restarting sports activities on 19 August 2020.

“We have been cautious in our approach to begin activities in Tamil Nadu and have resumed only limited training for a small group of players across different centres. Since all schools and colleges are closed only SDAT headquarters play fields in the districts are open. Due to unavailability of transportation, not all players are able to start activities to prepare themselves for domestic events. However, just 65 players resuming is still a good start and we will encourage players to get out and play and express to them the importance of following all protocols,” stated Mr Sekar J Manoharan, President of Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu.

On the other hand, Mr DM Rajasekaran, President of Le Puducherry Hockey said, “It has been a slow and steady process into getting young players to return to the sport. For now, we have about 50 players training in 3 different centres and it was immensely helpful that Hockey India had set the parameters for resumption of activities through their SOPs as early as April-May this year so we have a clear idea on what we needed to do when permissions come through to resume sports activities. Hopefully, with things getting better we will be able to motivate more players to come and play.”