Hockey India (HI) has entered into a historic three year partnership with Sports Authority of India (SAI), extending its commitment towards helping hockey regain its position as the top sport in the country.
This marks the beginning of a new era for Indian hockey under the leadership of Hockey India, enabling SAI to invest in innovative programmes aimed at developing India as a world class hockey nation.
The three year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was signed by the two bodies earlier this week, acknowledges hockey as a medium for the development and promotion of values in the youth of the nation.
It also states that SAI is desirous of promoting hockey, which is amongst the world’s most popular sports, as a tool for youth development and excellence in sports.
In the next three years, SAI along with Hockey India, will be working towards creating a lasting legacy for the sport by developing a hockey coaching system, talent identification and infrastructure for instilling positive values in today’s youth through hockey, education, health and other allied areas.
Speaking about this partnership, Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, President of Hockey India, said: “It’s a very proud moment for all of us here at Hockey India. SAI has always been there with us for our support, but this MOU marks the beginning of a new era for hockey in India. It also shows that our team’s hard work and dedication haven’t gone unnoticed and the government does see a huge value that the sport can bring towards youth development in India. I am confident that in the next three years we will identify many budding youngsters for our junior and senior programmes, which will only further our cause of making Indian hockey world class.”
SAI also aims to help Hockey India strengthen its coach development programme by providing domestic coaches with internationally recognised hockey coaching courses and license certification to the National Institute of Sports (NIS) students.
According to the memorandum, dedicated SAI coaches would become hockey scouts at pre-identified areas and scouting trials by HI national team coaches would be organised for various youth age groups at select SAI centres.
“SAI is committed to investing in developing hockey within India. We aim to develop innovative programmes and create avenues for a fruitful and rewarding career in the sport of hockey through this association. I am hopeful of some very positive results in the course of the next three years and eager to see Indian hockey rise to the top-spot in the world hockey map,” said Injeti Srinivas, Director General, Sports Authority of India.
A host of positive new developments have also been announced through this memorandum, aiming to strengthen the talent pool for Indian hockey in the longer run.
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Photo & article: Hockey India
