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The Hockey Diary

Of sticks, and stones....

The 76th MCC-Murugappa All India Hockey Tournament has became significant thanks to the sweeping changes announced by the IHF in team selection procedures.

The new action plan is meant, we are told, to revive Indian Hockey and help the national side stage a comeback in the upcoming Commonwealth Games, and the Asian Games later this year.

Coming as it does after the Indian team's debacle in the World Cup at Utretch in May, the tournament is expected to focus on young aspirants bidding for berths in the national squad for the upcoming internationals.

Thus, the the top brass of the Indian Hockey Federation, and the newly constitued selection committee, are expected to be present in Madras for the tournament -- making a distinct change from the earlier method of selecting teams based on trials, after a camp.

IHF president K P S Gill says, "The need is to be able to assess players over tournament play over a period of time, say a week or more."

The decision to change the process of team selection was taken in a meeting held in Bangalore after the World Cup debacle, where the ills of India hockey were analysed at length.

One opinion that was voiced then was that the poor performance owed to mistakes in the selection process, as also to the lack of physical and psychological conditioning.

The focus, thus, is expected to shift to physical fitness of the probables, as assessed in course of actual tournament play.

The tournament is also important for the fact that pretty much all the members of the Indian national team that played in Utrecht will be seen in action.

Dhanraj Pillay, skipper of that squad, had an eminently forgettable outing in the World Cup, and now gets a chance to prove that he is not a has-been. The injury that kept him below par should have healed completely in the month or more since the Cup, and that should in turn make for a return to prime form.

Also in focus will be Rajiv Mishra, who missed the World Cup due to an injury after a superb performance in the junior World Cup at Milton Keynes. Others like Baljit Singh Saini, Baljit Singh Chandi, Gavin Fereira, and Sabu Varkey will be aiming to prove that Utrecht was an aberration, and that they are still of the highest quality.

Another outcome of the upcoming tournament is the selection of a national coach. The present coach, former Olympian Vasudevan Bhaskaran, started off on a high when India came in runners-up in the junior World Cup, has however come in for severe criticism following the senior team's poor show at Utrecht. Though a few names are doing the rounds in the IHF circles, the federation will have considerable soul searching to do before finalising a name to take over from Bhaskaran.

From the competition point of view, the fifteen teams have been divided into four groups.

Pool A : Railways, Air India, CRPF, All India Customs and Central Excise.
Pool B : Punjab, Indian Airlines, Karnataka XI.
Pool C : Services, Punjab and Sind Bank, Mumbai XI, Gujarat XI.
Pool D : Tamil Nadu, Bihar, FCI, IHF Colts XI

National champions Indian Railways, National Games champions Punjab, star-studded Mumbai XI and Tamil Nadu are likely to top their respective pools if one goes by reputation. However, Railways are likely to face a formidable challenge as they are planning to field a junior team, and have been clubbed with Air India who have some former and present senior players in their ranks, along with CRPF and All India Customs and Central Excise.

In pool B, Punjab might face a stiff challenge from Indian Airlines and Karnataka XI. It will be a toss-up between Mumbai and PSB in Pool C. With Dhanraj Pillay spearheading the attack along with Sabu Varkey, Mumbai should not have any problem in topping their group. But the PSB, who are fielding a young team, and the armymen, might not not be pushovers.

In Pool D, Tamil Nadu, led by Mohammed Riaz, seems to be the favourite to enter the last four. However, Bihar, comprising mostly of talented adivasi players, look capable of pulling off an upset or two. The IHF Colts XI, comprising players from SAI Bangalore and a couple of players from Air India and Indian Airlines, may be a suprise pack.

For the selectors, thus, a two-pronged exercise ahead: one, to check the form and fitness of those players who already figure in the national squad and two, to seek new, upcoming talent for key berths, in a bid to improve the team's bench strength.

Money matters... it matters very much!

One way to improve performance is to provide incentives.

Ask the Australians. The Australian Olympic Committee has in place a Medal Incentive Scheme whereby, for performances achieved during 1998, Australian athletes are eligible to receive $40,000 for a gold medal, $24,000 for a silver medal, $12,000 for a bronze and $10,000 for a fourth placing.

Thus, the nation's women's team, which won the world cup, will get grants totalling Australian $640,000 (US$ 377,600) under the incentive scheme -- due reward for a side that has won every major international tournament since 1994, including two World Cups (1994, 1998), one Olympics (1996) and four Champions Trophies (1994-1997).

By way of aside, one reason for their triumph is continuity -- Ric Charlesworth has been coach throughout, and Rachelle Hawkes captain.

Under the same scheme, the fourth-placed Australian men's hockey team is eligible for a total of $160,000 in grants.

Contrast this with Indian hockey. Here, one cricket player equals 40 hockey players, monetarily. Indian cricketers are paid close to Rs 100,000 per one-day international, whereas a hockey players gets an average of Rs. 2,500 per match!

It is endorsements that put the butter on a sportsman's bread, and again, in this respect, hockey pales in comparison to cricket. Thus, no Indian hockey player has any endorsement deals with any company in India, except for Dhanraj Pillay. In contrast, nearly each and every current Indian cricketer has an array of endorsement contracts in his kitbag.

And if we imagine that cricket, with its greater fan following, is an aberration, then it's time to think again. Take soccer, where India has never had a record of performance at the international level, and where it is currently ranked around 110 in the world. Domestic soccer has however a national league, title sponsors, and highlights are shown on satellite television. Hockey, India's 'national sport', a game wherein India figures in the world top ten, has none of the above.

It is not that sponsors are not willing to come forward. They have -- and having come forward, they have had their fingers burnt by corruption within the IHF.

As a result, today, many clubs struggle to even pay their annual dues to the national body.

What the IHF needs to realise -- and urgently -- is that until there is better marketing of hockey by clubs, regional associations, national associations and the FIH itself, the money won't be forthcoming.

Given proper marketing, there is no doubt that hockey can regain its popularity in a country where, not so long ago, the likes of Mohammad Shahid vied for pin up status with the star cricketers.

The key is to bring spectators to the grounds. An instance in point was provided during the Atlanta Olympics, where many Americans watched hockey for the first time. Why? Because tickets were cheap and easily available -- but having got into the stadium, they came away massively impressed.

It's a simple fact of sporting life -- the more the spectators, the more the interest among the young ones to actually play the game. And the more the players at the grassroots level, the higher the standards at the top.

What is a "stick"?

Well, seems a silly question to ask after decades of top flight hockey competition -- but the fact is that the FIH, global body governing the sport, just got more specific, setting guidelines for the composition and design of a hockey stick.

The new guidelines, which will come into effect from July 1, 1998, ban the use of metal and metallic substances in sticks, and require the retention of the traditional wooden head.

In making the decision, the FIH Council cited the desire to maintain the characteristics of the game and limit risk to players, especially in light of changes in materials, new stick designs and the rapid increase in the number of synthetic pitches.

The following is the text of Rule 4, which defines the "stick":

1. Flat face on its left-hand side only; the playing side is the whole of the flat face and that part of the handle for the whole of the length which is above the flat face.

2. The back of the stick is the remainder for the whole length.

3. The "head" is the part below the lower end of the split or join. The head must be curved, of wood and have rounded edges and no manufactured holes, indentations or additions. The curved part of the head shall have a maximum length of 100mm measured vertically from the lowest part of the flat face parallel to the handle.

4. The remainder of the stick shall not include any metal or metallic substance.

5. With the exception of the hooked part of the head, the stick shall be straight. When placed horizontally on a flat surface, there shall be no gap between the stick and the surface which exceeds 20mm.

6. Maximum weight permissible is 737 grams.

7. Tape and resin may be applied to sticks to counter wear, provided that the surface remains smooth.

8. Inclusive of any additional coverings used, the stick should pass through a ring having an interior diameter of 51mm.

The Hockey Rules Board of the FIH will monitor the performance of traditional and non-traditional materials, and will restrict and/or forbid their use if they result in changes to the characteristics of the game or danger to players.

First up, this ruling halts the use of metallic and carbon sticks, which European teams have employed to get exceptional speed on the synthetic turf. These teams, thus, have been using sticks with a blade of wood, while the the upper part was of aluminium or other light metals, which made the whole stick light in weight.

The lighter weight, in turn, gave players extra pace in stickwork and on the long upfield hits. It also helps in getting a good grip -- European players use a lower grip as compared to Asian players with their higher grips.

Thus, one immediate result of the ruling is that it brings the two styles of hockey back into par.

What's your number?

The FIH has in its latest series of edicts changed the traditional system of numbering players shirts, from 1-16. From here on, numbers up to 32 will be permitted.

Further, players are now required to have their names on their shirts, to help the television audience keep track of the who's which.

The FIH has also in principle approved use of big screens in stadia, and instant replays of important plays. However, the guidelines governing their use have not yet been worked out.

Slow and unsteady

Give them a stick and a ball and Indian and Pakistani players dazzle. Individually, that is.

But give them a rule book, and they go off to sleep!

"Pakistan and India are the two countries who offer the poorest, and most delayed, feedback when we test new rules," says Brig (retd) Manzoor Hussain Atif, chairman, World Hockey Rule Board.

The reason? A total lack of interest in research, feels Atif, pervades the two countries.

The danger, he pointed out, is that these two countries inevitably lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to using the new rules to enhance performance, whereas European countries immediately assess, examine new rules and regulations and figure how best to use them to enhance their own performance.

"New rules," said Atif, "are introduced to make the game easier for the players, to produce enhanced thrills and thus attract more spectators. If a team doesn't use them, then it tends to lag behind in international competition."

A new rule is first introduced as an experiment, then it is advanced to the status of mandatory experiment. From this level, feedback is assessed and depending on it, the new rule is either introduced, modified or junked.

A good example is the elimination of the off side rule, the taking of penalty corners outside the circle, and the rolling substitution rule -- all designed to produce more field goals where, till then, competitive success depended heavily on penalty corner expertise.

The new rules have not only made the game more open and beautiful to watch, but have reduced the proportion of penalty corner goals from 30 per cent to 14 per cent. Rolling substitution, meanwhile, was conceived on the basis of recommendations by the FIH's medical board, in order to ease up injuries and enhance the professional life of a player. The rule effectively means that rather than 13 players (11 plus two substitutes), now all 16 members of the squad get to play, and players can be conserved and used to best advantage.

At present, in the experimental stage, is a proposal to increase the size of the goalposts. Logistically, however, it sounds an impossibility -- if only because no club, for now, will invest in the larger goalposts and nets, when it is not sure whether the rule will be confirmed.

With a view to a thrill...

The FIH has proposed the establishment of a global competition task force to examine the current structure of FIH competitions and, where necessary, to make changes to the structure, effective from the year 2000.

To be chaired by South Africa's Steve Jaspan, the task force undertook an analysis of the technical, financial and promotion aspects of the FIH global tournament structure with the following considerations in mind: increasing opportunities for lesser-developed hockey playing countries to compete on the world level; establishing a sensible, balanced and marketable cycle of world level major tournaments; and encouraging a wider variety of host countries for FIH events by reducing costs and improving the bidding system.

Also being closely scrutinised are methods of qualification for major events, particularly the World Cup; and the number of participants and continental representation relative to strength is being carefully examined.

In this context, the national associations of all teams participating in the 9th Men's and Women's World Cup were informed in March that there was not necessarily going to be automatic qualification to the edition of the premier event for the top six finishers at Urtecht.

"The key is to find the right formula from both the game's, and the commercial, pointof view," feels FIH president Juan Angel Calzado. "On the playing side, the FIH wants to encourage greater participation among lesser-developed countries to develop and strengthen our sport around the world. On the commercial side, we want to lift some of the financial burden from host countries, but also consider the possibility of the FIH having a greater involvement in certain commercial aspects of our major tournaments - more like a partnership arrangement. We are now trying to determine which partner is best suited to take on which tasks."