Question: Can you explain the format of #FIHProLeague?
Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra: We are having nine men teams and nine women teams. They will be playing home and away, so there are going to be eight home games and eight away games. A total of 16 games to be watched by each country, their athletes playing within a period of six months. I think that’s very exciting and interesting. Something that has not happened before is going to happen now and to add on to that you will have the rest of the tournaments happening in the other six months of the year, so it is going to be exciting for everyone.
Q: How was the idea of #FIHProLeague developed?
Dr. Batra: I think this idea developed when you interact with all your partners and stakeholders, whether it is broadcasters, whether it is sponsors, whether it is your National Associations, the think-tank within the FIH office. You read what is happening in the world,.Are we lacking anywhere or are we moving at the same speed or not? So, I am happy to say that FIH is not moving only at the same speed but even at a faster speed. So, these ideas came up.Then you need to keep the younger audience in mind. Everything has been worked out. How to come in digital, how to come on TV, it’s all been planned in a very synchronised manner.
Q: What makes #FIHProLeague special?
Dr. Batra: It will get people closer. The connect between the athletes and the fans is going to be much closer than it was before because when your team plays, it plays against eight different countries. So you get much closer to your athletes and you come to know everyone much better. That’s where the icons will be born and that’s what we need in hockey.
Q: What excites you about the Grand Final of #FIHProLeague?
Dr. Batra: What I love about the Grand Final is the way all the audience in the world at that time will be involved to see the end result of the event, culminating into who is the Champion of the tournament for which we have been working hard for the last five years. So that’s going to be the most concluding part and for the first time there is going to be prize money in hockey also. Winners are going to get prize money. So, there are so many good things happening and Holland (host of the Grand Final) does it in the best way, so that’s why I am more excited about it.
Q: How will #FIHProLeague take hockey to a new level?
Dr. Batra: I think it will take it to the next level now. When your home team plays for six months you build-up a following. I think the concept which has come is very important and you will see the results coming out. Whether it’s broadcast, whether it’s digital or whether it’s sponsors you will see the results coming out in two-three years. I won’t say the results will come overnight but the way I see this being developed is that there is going to be a multiple growth.. That’s how I see it going.
Q: What does #FIHProLeague tell about hockey and its future direction?
Dr. Batra: I think that with the #FIHProLeague coming in, it shows that hockey has moved in the right direction over the years and that right thought processes have been kept in place. With this coming together, as I said earlier, you will see the results coming in the next two to three years. Hockey, like other sports, will be able to support the countries that need assistance to come up.
Q: Can you tell us more about gender balance in hockey?
Dr. Batra: One thing I can proudly say about hockey is that it is a gender balance game and both have equal opportunities. The #FIHProLeague also has the same number of teams and same number of matches for men and women. In certain countries the women’s game dominates the men’s game in terms of demand on television, demand by sponsors. There is more for the women team in that country than for the men team. I am happy that in hockey both genders are conquering the world in their own sweet way.
Q: Can you tell us about athleticism of hockey players?
Dr. Batra: On average, after a game, a player is so drained out that he/she loses between two to four kilograms of weight. So, that is the intensity of the game. The minimum you run is about six to seven kilometres in a game and it is not just straight running, it is back and forth. That’s more strenuous. I think the hockey athlete would give any athlete a run for its money when it comes to fitness. I think they are second to none as far as fitness is concerned, whether it’s male or female.
Q: How can hockey attract new viewers?
Dr. Batra: I would say come and watch the sport, which is the best. What do you need in a sport? Aggression, quality of play, sportsmanship. When I see football, I see faking of injuries and that doesn’t happen in hockey. I am not against football but there is no faking of injuries in hockey. If you fall you get up immediately and start running. The rules are very simple and you understand it pretty quick. It’s a game in which you cannot get your eyes off because the game is so interesting, so involved, so fast that without even blinking you are looking left and right. That’s the pace it moves at. I can tell you, I have taken figures when I was in India. When we took the figures of TV viewership and digital viewership, I found that 65% of the audience were between 15 to 25. That was a healthy sign. When we divided into male and female, it was 35 percent female and 65 percent male which I would like it to be 50:50.
#FIHProLeague
