MILLIONAIRE TO SLUMDOGS

Recently I was fortunate enough to visit the BCCI cricket center, at the Mumbai Cricket Association, complex at Marine drive. The visit was purely accidental as the Kanga sports library ( not many people know of ) happened to be closed and I was inquiring about it. Walking into this plush lobby of the Cricket center, you could have mistaken it to be a 4 star boutique hotel, with marbled flooring & the works. Great! Indian cricket is flourishing & it was money well spent.

Immediately after that I happened to visit the Bombay Hockey Association, grounds 50 meters down the road. The reason of visit was that I was struggling with some Indian & international hockey related statistics for a quiz that I was compiling. The office situated in a dilapidated building with the interiors in complete shambles. All the trophies were displayed in one corner on a rundown table. My journey from the BCCI to BHA was like a "Millionaire" to "Slumdog". And we are talking about our "national game". We might as well stop being hypocrites & give this honor to cricket.

To a backdrop of the above mentioned event, you had TATA SKY SUPER 5s Rink Hockey tournament organized under the banner of Bandra Gymkhana. The event was conducted with the sole aim of working on a grass root level and to regain the past glory of the game. No stone was left unturned by the organizers to make this event a perfect blend of sports and entertainment.

The event kick started from 17th Feb, 2009 and ended on 21st Feb, 2009. The event saw the most renowned faces like Gurbux Singh, Joquim Carvalho, Dhanraj Pillai, Viren Rasquhina, Edgar Mascarenhas jr, Angelina D’sa Ex Indian Hockey player, Johny Lever, TV personality Ali Azgar, RJ Siddharth Kanan and of course the Chak De Girls Sandia and Nisha. Even the football greats Mr. Bernard Pereira and Mr. Santosh Kashyap could not resist the temptation of keeping themselves away from the shorter version of the game.

The event boasted of 28 teams in three categories, U16 Boys, Women and Men open with names like Gavyn and Edgar Mascaranhas and other players from Indian and PHL squad raising the bar of the tournament. The Winner of the tournament Mumbai Customs, Central Railway and Don Bosco’s in Men’s, Women's and U16 boy's category respectively were displayed superlative performance.

Sybil Mirinda, Ex Indian Hockey player said, “Highlight of this tournament was the innovative Sportainment concepts by W2 EVENTS the official event managers, which encouraged sponsors to invest in this tournament and get in the audience”. Angelina D’sa, Ex Hockey Captain of India said, “One cannot blame cricket for the dwindling popularity of hockey, as cricket is a well marketed.”

The event witnessed series of performances by GLITTER GIRLS choreographed by Kareen Lobo from Sandeep Khoparkar Studio, THE TEAM MOST WANTED a Bboying crew from Mumbai, who enthralled the audience, a superb performance by ASTERIX INDIA capturing the audience by their graceful moves on peppy tracks. STEADFAST SPORTS AND ADVENTURE ACADEMY provided the much needed Medical Staff which is usually missing in Indian Sports.

Gul Panag, brand Ambassador of Tata Sky was the Chief Guest of the event who is also an ardent supporter of the game said, “I have come here because I love the game of hockey, my family has been involved in this game from generations”. She has a blog dedicated to Indian hockey on her website.

Hockey needs new concepts and aggressive marketing to catch the Imagination of the audience, sponsors and media to make a Slumdog Millionaire.