Hockey outpost Bihar embraces the game

Rajgir: When the 121 volunteers, at the ongoing Asia Cup, aren’t busy with the backend work, they are engrossed in live hockey action. The boys and girls, all budding teen players from various corners of Bihar, are jotting down notes, screaming ‘PC! PC! (penalty corner)’ quicker than the on-field umpire can signal and cheering on their favourite players while thoroughly soaking in the environment. 

In a state with barely any legacy in hockey, the sport has sprung to life all of a sudden. The revolution at the grassroots is already paying dividends. Apart from conducting their first-ever structured state championship this year that saw 450 kids participating in the event, their boys’ and girls’ teams finished as quarterfinalists at the Sub-junior Nationals, again a first for the state. 

At the helm of this transformation is Raveendran Sankaran, a 1995 batch IPS officer from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, who became the Director General of Bihar State Sports Authority in 2022. 

“When I got posted as the DG of BSSA, our Chief Minster Nitish Kumar gave us a mandate that sports should become a movement,” Sankaran told DH. 

“Not too many people know that the Olympic movement was started from Bihar with the Indian Olympic Association operating for the first 15 years from Patna and the first Secretary General (SM Moinul Haq) also from here. We have our sports legacy, so he wanted that legacy to be revived.” 

Along with the several government sports schemes and programmes such as Medal Lao, Naukri Pao, Khel Samman (rewards for outstanding performers) or Mashaal (talent search from schools and villages), the state government and BSSA have combined to set-up 38 Eklavvya Residential Sports Schools for 17 different sports. Out of the 38, five are dedicated only to hockey. 

“Three are for boys and the two for girls with a maximum strength of 30 kids in each. Patna, Purnia, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria and here in Rajgir are the centres for hockey. We will increase this number from 38 to 60 so every district will have a minimum of two residential sports schools by the end of this year. We have turfs only here but international standard turfs are approved for the four other centres as well,” offered Sankaran. 

The sports budget of Bihar which was Rs. 30 crore in 2022 has seen more than a 20-fold increase to Rs 680 crore. Apart from fuelling money into domestic sports, bringing in top-tier events to Bihar is one of its other big agendas. The current men’s Asia Cup is the second international hockey tournament to be played at the 90-acre sports facility in Rajgir after hosting the women’s Asian Champions Trophy last November. 

IPS officer Raveendran Sankaran has been instrumental in reviving the state

“I met the Hockey India officials when I was sent to the Paris Olympics (August 2024) by the Bihar government as an observer. A casual chat to host a big event turned into reality when the CM said okay as soon as I proposed the idea of hosting the women’s ACT. 

“With only the foundation ready, we laid the turf within 28 days in the month of October to host the event in November last year. The second one (practice turf) took about three months that was completed early this year just before us hosting the Khelo India Youth Games,” said Sankaran. 

Few would have bet on Bihar to be the dark horse in building a robust grassroot sporting ecosystem. It just goes to prove that with right intent, judicious investment and accountability even a desert can be turned into farmland. 

"I promise you, very soon our hockey players will be on par and better than those who are traditionally good at the sport," asserted Sankaran.