Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to notify hockey as the national sport of India has stirred a national debate. Although the move found widespread support, it propelled other sports bodies that represent kabaddi and wrestling to eulogize their sports and demand a similar status for them. Those who have joined the debate against the proposal need to understand what it actually means to give a ceremonial tag to a particular sport and whether the tag gives the sport an edge over others.
Let us see how it is in other parts of the world. It is not necessary that a sport be given a legal stamp to be called a national game. There are many countries where the national game is given de-facto recognition such as Japan (sumo), Denmark (football) Russia (bandy). These are recognized as national games but do not have legal stamp. However, countries such as Argentina (pato), Sri Lanka (volleyball) Philippines
(arnis) have gone the extra mile to brand their national games as de jure by giving them legality. But in all of the above cases, the games are neither mostly played nor do they have a wide loyal base, yet their countries of origin have accepted them as national games that represent the socio-cultural fabric of the country.
Hockey has been around in India for more than 130 years and the country has shown its supremacy in the game worldwide. Winning eight Gold medals, one World Cup and four Gold medals in Asian Games is validation of its success.
Like cricket, hockey was also introduced in India by the British. India ruled the hockey field from 1928 to 1980. Having achieved such heights of glory, granting a national tag to this glorious sport would be tokenism only. While not taking anything away from this sport which has given India a face value in the world during the pre and early independence days, it can also be said that India has already gone past prime achievements and even the coveted national sports tag will not help it to reclaim the lost ground and world supremacy.
Hockey in India has suffered on many accounts. Switching from grass top to astro turf, faulty management at the top level, inability to retain foreign coaches, lack of investment for upgrading the infrastructure are some of the reasons for the loss of global supremacy. All this happened when hockey was unofficially recognized as the national game. India not only lost the plot at the international level, its skill sets were also largely dominated by European nations who played with raw force, football like formation and inclusion of scientific temperament in the game. While those who were at the helm of hockey affairs vied for top positions, other hockey playing nations were busy leading the debate on how to tame Asian hockey in their own backyard. The outcome is visible now. Asian hockey is a distant second in the race dominated by Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Australia. Even smaller countries like Argentina and Poland are capable to give India a chase for their money on a given day.
Those who understand hockey and the way it is run in India will agree with the fact that the hockey associations are capable of receiving private and public support and funding in a manner they like and mobilise. Hence, by giving a national sports tag to the sport is not likely to yield any additional financial benefit. Sponsors like Sahara India have supported hockey and the Government of Odisha has in recent times agreed to provide financial support to the sport for the next five years.
Those who want to see hockey with an official national sports tag believe that it will be a befitting tribute to the people who have played this game at different levels and made the country proud. There is no denying the fact that a national tag gives you that extra edge and the players feel special about it but at the same time we also cannot overlook the fact that country has honoured many former players with civilian awards like the Padmashree. As many as 25 hockey players have received the Padma awards. This is testimony to the fact that the country has always recognized brilliance on the field and awarded it too.
It is high time that we stopped basking in past glory. We must now lead with an intention to glorify the future where the game of hockey is concerned.
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