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Sansarpur: With Astro-turf, will
this village race again in medal tallies?
Sach Kanwal
Singh
 There was a time
when Sansarpur was famous for turning out men who were simply born
with the magical dribble skills. Then came the astro-turf, and the
short passes of the forwards became history. Competitive turf
hockey, helped by the astro-turfs, finished off grass field hockey.
For millions of sports fans across the world, the sight of Sikhs in
India’s
Hockey team was their first introduction to this great religion.
Those men used to be th ambassadors of Sikhism too in their own way.
But then,
Beijing did not see a hockey team from India at all. It had failed
to even qualify for the Olympics. Every sane mind questioned the way
Indian Hockey Federation managed the game in the country. Dribbling
was outsmarted by meddling and KPS Gill killed the spirit of the
game Top former players cried in vain but no one listened.
Now, hope is
returning, albeit slowly. Sansarpur, once the cradle of Indian
hockey, has got a new lease of life with the Punjab Government
laying a six-a-side astro-turf at the village. Work on the synthetic
turf is almost complete and a tubewell to water the field will be in
place shortly.
The tiny village
of around 4500 population is on the outskirts of Jalandhar. Punjab’s
Director, Sports, Pargat Singh said there will soon be a full-time
Sports Authority of India coach here. The village panchayat has
given nine kanals land for the turf.
The village, to
its credit, has produced 14 Olympians nine of them representing
India, has won 27 Olympics and Asian Games medals for the country,
all before 1976. But, with no field to train on for almost 18 years
from 1976 to 1994, the sport saw the decline here.
“The Army
brought the sport to Sansarpur. The village hockey field was on army
land. In 1976, however, the army did not renew the lease and for
almost 18 years, local players were left with no training ground and
hockey as a sport died a slow death,” said Arjuna awardee Col Balbir
Singh, who won the bronze in the 1968 Olympics.
“Finally, in
1994, the Army once again agreed to give us the ground and presently
we have two full length field - one nongrassy and one grassy and
four six-a-side grounds. But with the six-a-side synthetic hockey
turf -- where modern hockey is played -- coming up, there is yet
hope of revival of the good old days,” said Col. Balbir, who’s
grandfather donated two of the nine kanals given by the village
panchayat for the turf.
Naik Thakur
Singh from the village showed the way in 1926.
He was part of
the first national squad that left Indian shores. In 2005, after a
gap of 29 years, Ravi Pal became the last one from the village of
Olympians to represent the country. He is presently in the core
group for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
“Every child of
the village has grown up on tales of our own Olympic heroes and the
sport comes naturally to us. But lack of facilities was in the way.
Now the government’s initiative of laying the turf will surely help
us revive the sport in the village,” said Ravi Pal.
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Sikhs
leading the way
 It is
heartening to see that Sikh boys and girls are leading the way
when it comes to revival of hockey. One’s heart is full of pride
that Surinder Kaur, who hails from a very poor family, is today
leading the women’s team while Sandeep Singh, the captain of the
men’s hockey team, is also a Sikh. It is even more heartening to
know that both were coached by the same man, Baldev Singh, again
a Sikh.
The
community is proud of Surinder Kaur and Sandeep Singh, just as
it is proud of all the young boys and girls in the sleepy
Shahbad Markanda in Haryana whom Baldev Singh coaches
untiringly. In cricket crazy India, there is not much glitter
being showered on coach Baldev Singh, or “Baldev Sir!” as the
young ones call him, but perhaps the respect that he gets from
his wards and the gratefulness of the community help to make up
for it in some small measure. |
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11
November 2009
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