Chak de India, say Odisha girls

Four years ago, Kamla Singh and Mary Condorlna, both 16, from remote villages in Odisha, would not have imagined in their wildest dreams that they will be trainees at the sports hostel being run by the ­prestigious Naval Tata Hockey Academy, ­Bhubaneswar. “The duo are star performers and hold good record in hockey tournaments conducted by our academy. They deserve a place in the national women’s hockey team,” says Rtn ­Jatinder Kumar Sharma, chief coach and founder of Rotary Hockey Academy (RHA).

A former national hockey player, Jatinder Sharma wanted to tap the sporting potential and train rural girls from Odisha villages in field hockey. “I wanted to lift these poor, but gifted girls from the morass of poverty through proper training, nutritious food and a healthy lifestyle and hence started RHA in 2017 when I was president of RC Sambalpur City,” he says.

Over the last four years, Rtn Jatinder Sharma has spent over ₹20 lakh from his pocket to train the 200 girls in the Rotary academy.

Even then, he knew that he had taken up a tough challenge. Hailing from Jammu district, he settled in Khetrajpur town in Sambalpur district and joined Rotary in 2016 with the help of his chartered accountant friend Rtn Chandrasekhar Shah. Sharma moved to RC Veerbhumi Sambalpur, RID 3261, in 2019 as its club advisor. Without much ado, he began to chart out the finer details of his exclusive hockey academy for rural girls.

Father Rajendra Kujuras, sports activist and headmaster, Amlikhaman Mission Upper Primary School at Bamra block in Sambalpur; ex-servicemen Rtn Anil Mishra, a fitness expert who owns gyms; and Daniel and Ana Wilkinson, a couple from New ­Zealand joined Sharma to give a physical shape to the hockey academy. “At present, we train 200 girls at three centres in Khetrajpur, Kukuda (Sundargarh) and Amlikhaman by providing them free equipment, jerseys, sneakers, and well-maintained playgrounds,” explains Sharma. Physical training and nutrition are taken care of by Mishra, while Daniel helps the girls in improving their communication skills.

Pathetic state

With no money or creature comforts, these Odisha girls have nothing but starry eyes, grit and determination to make it big at the national hockey scene. “The trainees have nothing to pay. We give them rigorous training, exercise regimen and nutritious food, besides accommodation. Each year, we take them to the trials at the sports hostels for selection of state-level trainees at prestigious hockey academies.” Currently, 25 girls from RHA are being trained at the Naval Tata Hockey Academy; SAI Hockey Academy, Sundargarh; and Panposh Academy, Rourkela.

Another highlight of RHA is that each year it holds the Rotary Women’s Rural Hockey Tournament with the participation of over 20 teams comprising over 300 girls from across Odisha. “Right from travel fare, food to accommodation and equipment, everything is arranged free for the competing teams. Out of these girls, we select around 25 and coach them in a 15-day trial camp. From this camp, 16 candidates are selected to form the national team of RHA,” elaborates Sharma.

A turning point

Jatinder Sharma took his girls to watch the Men’s Hockey World Cup (2018) at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. Pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm of the girls and moved by the background of these young guns, two Odisha filmmakers, Avinash Pradhan and Debasish Mohapatra, wanted to make a documentary on RHA which is opening a huge platform for rural girls in this sport about which they are so passionate.

The directors came to know that RHA funds the entire training programme of girls with great exposure which will help them to get selected for the national women’s hockey team. “The 40-minute documentary titled The Mountain Hockey though made in 2019 was released through the OTT platform, Disney Hotstar, in June this year,” says Sharma with a glint of pride in his eyes.

On recreational avenues for girls, he says, “during regular tournaments in Sambalpur, we take them to movie theatres to inspire and motivate our budding players. The Shah Rukh Khan film Chak De! India (2007) was screened for them at the Amlikhaman facility as the film is based on the Indian women’s hockey team winning the Commonwealth Games 2002.”

Over the last four years, the chief coach has spent over ₹20 lakh from his pocket to train the 200 girls in the Rotary academy. Though he needs funds for his two daughters studying in local schools, he says, “I am quite happy to spend for my girl trainees at the academy. They will go places in the years ahead.”

With touching humility, Kamla says, “without my coach, I am nowhere, a big zero. He has changed my life completely.” Mary goes one step further: “Sir is god to me. I know my god will protect and take care of me.” Godspeed to Jatinder Sharma, and may his tribe increase.