The story of Hockey Village India Foundation

In 2009 I came back with a mixed hockey team from Germany and we stopped over for lunch in the village. We bought some carpets for the girls school, some sweaters for the cold winters, school furniture and also uniforms for those who couldn’t afford them from the money donated by generous donors. As Hockey is the national sport here in India, I find it as an opportunity for these kids to earn money and lead a better life. I immediately thought of building a hockey ground for the village.

During my next visit, I grew very fond of Dilip’s cousin brother, Chandu. When I pitched him my idea about a hockey ground for the kids, he immediately offered the ground in front of his ancestral fort and since then he has been like an Indian brother to me. We started working on the project and soon ordered a roller to flatten the surface and make the ground more even.

To fund the project we first had to register a non-profit foundation in India, which initially proved to be a hassle as we didn’t know whom to approach to complete the formalities. Nobody was able to properly direct us or guide us. After the Hockey world cup in 2010, we brought some of the parents of the German national hockey team to the village. They liked what we have done so far and also the veterans hockey team from Vienna loved the concept immensely. I myself spent an entire month in the village in july 2010 to get the things running.

We finished work on the hockey ground, found a sponsor for the kits and started practicing with both boys and girls playing on alternate days. The response from the kids was simply amazing, every day a hundred kids would fight for the few hockey sticks!!! We also offered them free English classes in the village temple.

In the beginning there were so many kids attending our classes, but when the harvesting season began, the parents used to take their kids along with them to the fields. Only a few came to learn hockey and English. We had to accept that because it was after all their only source of income in the village. But the village appreciates our project very much, they not only actively supports us, but also stop by now and then to enquire about the progress we are made thus far.

We got help from some of the local lads in the neighbourhood to assist us, which proved to be a big relief, as I can only manage a few words in Hindi. One day, we took the kids with permission from their parents, to a field trip to Jaipur where we visited the zoo, the fort and the astro turf.

Every morning at 6am, I go for a jog across the fields. It was a very unusual sight for someone living in a village. On their way to the fields, tractors used to stop thinking that I need a lift, the children used to race with me on their bicycles, the much younger ones used to run along along with me till they ran out of breath, the village priest waves at me from the Mandir, the men working in the fields used to stop doing what ever it was they were doing and stare at me as I jogged along the muddy path and the women used to smile sheepishly and wave shyly through the windows from their houses. so that is how my day started and soon I was accepted and also have became a part of the village!

We also managed to install the first dust bin in the village market, an old oil drum with an iron ankle that was fixed to the ground. One day when, Chandu and I were walking through the market, one shop keeper came running to us and asked whether he could have a similar dustbin in front of his shop. Now the concept of having dustbins is soon catching up. The market is now a much cleaner place than it once was.

It is a little bit frustrating however, when people living here take things for granted. All the hockey sticks are badly worn out, the fence abetting the ground is heavily damaged by the village cattle, nobody bothers to help us repair it.Just yesterday I distributed sports shoes among the kids from what we collected in Germany, one girl asked me why they don’t get new shoes and get seconds? it made me feel sad that they couldn’t even afford such basic luxuries.

Harendra Singh – the former national coach already confirmed his coming on 17th and 18th of august and he will stay in the village and coach the kids. On 18th we will go then to Jaipur with our U14 boys team and have the first match ever against the DPS U14 team.

I believe in destiny – I was born in a first world country and got a good education. I can now travel across the world, so I am ready to share with others, with what god has gifted me.