Mumbai, once known as a powerhouse for producing several hockey legends, has now failed in its attempt to organise a hockey tournament successfully.
The organizers, Hockey Mumbai City (HMC), stated that it was almost impossible to conduct the eight-team Hockey Mumbai Super League (HMSL), which is kicking off from today, May 1, to May 11, at the Don Bosco High School turf, citing several reasons.
What are the issues the current Hockey scene is facing right now? We’ll take a look at several factors that could be responsible for the crisis.
Decline of Hockey in Mumbai
Hockey, once seen as one of the most relevant sports in Mumbai, has now been observing a decline in recent years, as the sport is not able to get a suitable environment to organize its tournaments, and is often halted due to several reasons like financing, lack of grounds, and many more.
On Wednesday, the secretary of Hockey Mumbai City (HMC), Dhananjay Mahadik, told Mid-Day regarding the sponsorship issue for the Hockey Mumbai Super League. He stated, “There are no sponsors for field hockey [11-a-side version] in the city. Sponsors believe there are no big clubs or big names in Mumbai hockey anymore, so there are no footfalls or eyeballs, so there’s no point advertising. So far, we’ve only managed to collect 50 per cent of the funding to cover the tournament.”
Among the issues that the secretary of HMC stated, the most crucial thing that has been going on over the years, affecting the Hockey scene in Mumbai directly are: lack of grounds in Mumbai, low income, and high expenses.
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Lack of Grounds in Mumbai
Once a Commonwealth Games silver-winning defender, Mahadik expressed his concern about the lack of proper infrastructure to play a hockey match in Mumbai. The lack of quality and full-sized hockey turf in Mumbai has increased the sport to diminish, and deprive the players of the opportunity to play or practice for different tournaments.
Only two proper infrastructures are available in Mumbai: one at Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd (MHAL), and the other at the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
MHAL, being one of the historical and facility-filled arenas for Hockey, is also entangled with many lease issues with the association, and the Maharashtra state government.
Similarly, the SAI ground in Kandivali is also unavailable as the renovation work is going on, where the state is planning to introduce it as the Centre of Excellence.
However, Don Bosco’s ground has helped the organizers to secure the future of players through tournaments like Hockey Mumbai Super League (HMSL).
Lack of Enough Income
Along with the lack of infrastructure issues, a city like Mumbai, which has produced numerous internationals and Olympians, is also facing a serious funding problem, as the tournament collects lesser revenue, while the expenses are high. According to Mahadik, they are charging a Rs. 25,000 entry fee per team; the winning team’s cash award is Rs. 1 lakh, and the runners-up’s award is Rs. 50,000
He further clarified the financial aspect, saying, “The cost to rent the turf is Rs 80,000, while we will be paying the referees Rs 400 each per game [five officials for each of the 19 games]. Also, every game will have a man of the match award (Rs 1000), which I will pay for from my own pocket. ”
Mahadik additionally laid down the plans of having a weekly camp, and providing the opportunities to represent the Mumbai district or even the state team, for the HMC players.
The much-anticipated tournament, Hockey Mumbai Super League, will feature Police Boys, CTC, Union Bank, Mumbai Police, Central Railway, Bombay Republicans, MbPT, and Mumbai Customs, which are further divided into two groups. The quarter-finals will be played from May 6 to May 7, the semi-finals on May 9, and the whole tournament will be concluded on May 11.
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