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One Thousand Hockey Legs
What does the word hockey mean to you? This is the question that I asked on the page of Chak De Indian Hockey on Facebook. There were few replies but the one I liked the most was ‘breath’. Thank you, Sir for giving such a great reply to the question. I think Mr. K. Arumugam and his team also believe in the same thing, that hockey is breath
One Thousand Hockey Legs is a program started by Mr. K. Arumugam and his team which aims to get 500 schools in India to play the game of hockey. The program is set up so that children learn and play and enjoy the beautiful game of hockey.
The program works with the vision of giving each child an opportunity to play hockey and learn various things about it. The volunteers of OTHL conduct regular tournaments, quiz and other competition to make the game exciting and fun for children. It aims in developing a passion among young children about the game and learn the nuances about it and simultaneously promoting the game in the country.
When we have more off field distractions than on field action, the program OTHL brings joy among many hockey fans when they see the work being carried out by the people for our national game. The program aims to form at least one team in school for tournaments and find a team to participate for state and national level tournaments. They aim to touch the figure of 500 schools which will help the country by providing talent. OTHL also conducts hockey quiz in the cities once a year and hold workshops for training coaches. They conduct annual tournament in every associated city where they hope to find exceptional talent and mentor them so that they can make it to the national team in future.
This is a great move which also aims to bring all the Indian hockey lovers together. This program runs in four cities of India, Chennai, Kanpur, Kolkata and Pudicherry and all the participating children have been provided with insurance for their injuries. Every player has been insured for maximum of Rs. 1lac. Organizing competitions, playing kit and sportswear for competitions, special training expertise, soliciting professional players to interact with students, formation of an academy to groom talent, technical support through Government agencies, prizes, incentives and scholarships, quiz programmes are some of the things included in the program.Along with their effort, they also want the schools to follow some things like willingness to promote hockey, general co-operation towards the program’s activities, Rs.1000 subscription per annum, safeguard equipment and kit, playground for practice & training at school, circulate hockey related literature, approval to form teams and participate in competitions, freedom to select teams, formulate training methods, permit students to witness and participate in competitions, transportation of players for training and matches, first-aid plan and injury care, facilitate interaction with children’s parents, publicity of program on campus.
This program is helping many young children to learn about out national game and its time we also join the bandwagon and support this cause. Please visit www.othl.stick2hockey.com for more details regarding this project.
