Bua Sa Hockey Village: Uplifting Rural India through Hockey

The village of Garh Himmat Singh, about 2.5 hrs from Jaipur cannot be found on any map or tourist guide, but there is something special about the village. It is a Hockey Village.

The village run by Bua Sa Foundation of Germany has the slogan, “Education and Sports for better future” imparts education and teaches hockey to young people with a noble intention and great hope that the education imparted will help the kids forge a bright future for themselves. The foundation also aims to bring better facilities in rural India.

It is a commonly known fact that rural India is still light years behind urban India in terms of basic facilities and the foundation is trying to change that by providing the village with hygiene and sanitation facilities.

When I contacted Andrea Thumshrin, founder of Bua Sa foundation, and asked her why hockey and not cricket which happens to be the sport Indians love the most , she said the kids should know the national game of India. Thumshrin herself being a hockey player, it is understandable where the love stems from. She implements her noble intention of the need for the kids to learn about team spirit, responsibility and competition, . According to her, there is no better way than hockey to teach these kids all such values.

The kids are currently learning about the basic rules of hockey and gaining fitness to play the game. The foundation has tied up with DPS Jaipur to play friendly games once the kids learn how to play the game. The foundation is also co-operating with German clubs for exchange programmes in the future for the kids of the village. The best players will be coached and trained in the Hockey Academy which will open in the year 2012.

The young kids from the Hockey Village are truly lucky, for they are living the dream and enjoying the facilities that several other kids can only dream of: Proper education. In addition, playing hockey happens to be a great motivation for the kids to come to school, not to mention the world class equipment which they get from Europe. In the future, these kids might not become national team players, but hockey along with education would definitely have taught them several valuable lessons on how to succeed in this competitive world. I sincerely thank Bua Sa Foundation for the help they are providing rural India and hope that they succeed in their objective.