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The Indian Men’s Hockey team has been showing a lot of promise in the last few years but has consistently failed on the big stage. With the World Cup coming up in June 2014 in Hague, as also the Asian games and the Commonwealth games, it’s time that historical giants of world hockey deliver what the fans have been waiting for from a long time now. The question that keeps coming to mind is what is lacking: is it the talent, is it the motivation, is it the passion of playing for the nation, what is it that is hindering the team to give better performances in games that matter, in championships that count ? The problem lies not just at the senior level, the same is happening at the junior level as well, and this was reflected in a poor 10th place finish in recently concluded Junior Hockey World Cup held in Delhi.

One of the reasons could be slim development of the game at the grass root level, the game played at junior or sub junior level is not technically sound enough to match the European standards. One more reason could be the lack of motivation for the players due to lack of funds or an insecure future or lack of interest of the fans. It is time to take all these reasons into account and eradicate them and bring back the glory days on Indian hockey. Special attention needs to be given to the game at the junior level, where international exposure should be given so that the preparation and learning is complete. Hockey India league has done 3 things in one for the game. Future of the players is secured because of the money that is involved, the international exposure which is so necessary is there, and the third and the most important is that it brought back fans to the stadiums cheering the national game. All in all it is helping the game regain its shine, it’s fan base and also planting a sense of optimism in every fan that the team will achieve big this year.

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