Tata Steel & Hockey Australia launch Hooking 2 Hockey

Jamshedpur, July 9: Tata Steel in association with Hockey Australia, the governing body of hockey in Australia, has launched a grass-root hockey development program �Hooking2Hockey� at Gomardih in Kutra block of Sundargarh, the district known as cradle of hockey in Odisha which has produced some of the finest international hockey players.

Series of workshops were conducted by a three member team led by James Liggins, Participation coordinator of Hockey Australia and two other members Tom Winter and Oran Aziz from July 5 to 8 in 10 schools of Kutra and Rajgangpur blocks.

At the concluding session on Saturday, the Australian trainers and participating students were felicitated by B K Naik, SDPO, Kutra in presence of captain Amitabh, head, Skill Development, Tata Steel, S S Mishra, senior manager, Mine, Tata Steel, J Sandil, unit head, TSRDS, local panchayati raj institution members, local school students, teachers, Tata Steel employees.

Naik appreciated the efforts of Tata Steel for organizing the program and urged the students to make best use of the training.

The initiative, coordinated by Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS), Gomardih unit, is aimed to attract youngsters towards hockey and teach them basics of the game in a fun-filled but professional atmosphere to help them grow up as good players.

Three hundred students in the age group of 7-10 years, 15 boys and 15 girls from each of the 10 schools, participated in the workshops. All the children were given individual sports kit comprising of hockey stick, ball, shin-guard, T-shirt, gumshield, etc.

More workshops will be conducted in coming months in the area to cover approximately 200 more students. Tata Steel will nurture the future players from these youngsters by linking them to some leading training centers.

Besides, the team has also trained ten hockey coaches of these schools near Gomardih, where the steel major has its Dolomite Mine.

On the initiative, D B Sundara Ramam, executive in-charge, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel, said that as a part of our commitment towards promoting sports in our operational areas, this initiative will go a long way in encouraging hockey talent in the region.

Speaking about the partnership with Hockey Australia, Biren Bhuta, chief, CSR, Tata Steel, said the partnership is going to create a meaningful impact at the grass root level – both in the field of hockey as well as the lives of the youngsters who are interested in this game.

Expressing his joy for being part of the program, James Liggins of Hockey Australia thanked Tata Steel for organizing this wonderful workshop and giving the team an opportunity to train the youngsters in India.