Having initiated a grassroots development programme within the federation with zonal competitions at junior age-group levels, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey on Friday launched the One Step Ahead Grassroots Hockey Development Programme to provide facilities and training to tribal kids in an effort to further attract them to the sport.
An initiative of the Dilip Tirkey Sports Research and Development Foundation, in association with the JSP Foundation, the event in Rourkela saw 5000 children from 215 villages of Sundergarh district provided with jerseys, hockey sticks and balls.
The programme is planned to eventually cover the entire tribal belt spread across majorly across the Chota Nagpur region including the three neighbouring states that have traditionally been a hockey nursery – Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. “Grassroot hockey is the foundation, if we strengthen it, we will never look back. Our first responsibility will be to find the right talent and train them properly so that not a single good player is left out,” Tirkey said.
The event also saw exhibition matches by tribal kids in the presence of former players Birendra Lakra, Ashok Kumar and Subhadra Pradhan. “It is just the beginning of a movement. In the coming days, children will be provided with proper nutrition and a beautiful environment to learn games,” JSP Foundation chairperson Shallu Jindal said.
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