After a tiring early morning practice session followed by continuous classes, the captain of the BITS Hockey team, Ayush managed to squeeze in some time to talk to the BOSM English Press. He was rubbing his eyes trying hard to keep his sleep at bay, answering questions with the occasional yawn. He says that the team members are at good spirit and are training hard to defend the gold medal they won in the previous edition of BOSM.
Although the national sport of our nation, Hockey remains an underrated sport with a small fan base. The sport is a contest between two teams; each team has 11 players comprising of the goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forwards, who play for two halves of 35 minutes each. The sport has a strict guideline which penalises anyone who attempts to obstruct the opponent in any illegal or dangerous manner.
Ayush says that the team consists a majority of 2nd and 3rd years, who are currently being coached by Sanjay Singh Yadav. The coach has been training the team for two years, with his efforts leading to a gold in BOSM ’17. The team undergoes rigorous training for 1.5 hours in the morning before classes followed by an evening practice which lasts 2.5 hours every day for the past two weeks. When asked about the expected competition this year, the captain said, ‘The competition has always been quite intense, but this time with colleges like IIT Delhi and SRCC coming, it’s going to get even more competitive’. Despite a good showing last BOSM, the hockey team were knocked out in the group stages of the only outside college competition they participated, suggesting that they may still not be at par with the other competing colleges.
On being asked about the experience of being the captain, Ayush mentioned that the experience has been both demanding and enriching. He says that most people don’t really play hockey during their school days, which robs them of the opportunity of getting experienced players for the team. So as a captain, it’s his responsibility to not only train but to also tutor the recruits about the intricacies of the game. When asked about the experience of dealing with the CoSSAc and the sports council, he replied that there were no complaints and that they had been very cooperative. The combined pressure from academics, captaincy and other club commitments makes it hard to handle. However, Ayush is thankful to his team for being so co-operative.
On being asked about the audience that hockey matches witness during BOSM, Ayush says ‘It is true that hockey games attract far fewer viewers as compared to sports like Basketball, which occupy the centre stage during the fest’. However, he encourages students to not discriminate between different sports and to attend the hockey games and cheer for their home team.