Kukoo Walia, the former international Hockey umpire, has taken the onus on himself to develop the game of hockey at the grass root level. He has vowed to lift the level of hockey at the ground level and is successfully doing it through Nehru Cup Hockey Tournament in the capacity of its secretary.

In an interview to Shradha Bagdwal of Indian Sports News, Kukoo Walia speaks about the tournament, status of hockey in country, federation’s apathy towards the tournament and more. Excerpts:

ISN: How much pride do you hold in organizing the Nehru Cup without any glitch? How big do you think is the achievement?
Kukoo Walia: It is a very difficult job. Nobody spreads out their helping hand and any kind of support. There are teams coming in from all over the country and it includes a lot of expenses. I think it is a very big achievement for the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Association to hold it every year in spite the funding crunch.

ISN: What has been the contribution of Nehru Cup to Indian Hockey?
Kukoo Walia: Nehru Cup is a grass-root level tournament and it lays the foundation for Indian hockey team. Through Nehru Cup players get selected for big tournaments. Nehru Cup is the base of Indian hockey. All the prominent Indian players are the product of Nehru Cup. Players would not get the required amount of exposure needed to break into the big league if there were no such tournaments.

ISN: So where do you get the funding from?
Kukoo Walia: It is very difficult to get sponsor for junior level tournaments like these. But then we cannot let go off the tournament as well. So we have to arrange for the funds ourselves.

ISN: How much help do you get from the federation?
Kukoo Walia: Absolute no support from the hockey federation. They do not give any money; neither do they provide any officials. There is no use expecting any sort of support from them. We have to do everything ourselves so that this tournament does not get annihilated.

ISN: What is present status of Indian hockey?
Kukoo Walia: Hockey is the national game of India. We have won eight Olympic medals in hockey, which is a record in itself. But presently it is in a very sorry state. It has deteriorated to an extent where there are serious doubts now whether the team would qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

ISN: What is your say on the IHF and HI clash?
Kukoo Walia: I cannot comment on the clash, but there should resolve their differences as soon as possible for the benefit of the game. If the dispute doesn’t end soon, Hockey is India would be doomed.

ISN: What additional efforts can be done to raise the level of hockey?
Kukoo Walia: All the agencies should come forward to support their national game. My appeal is they should uplift the level of junior level tournaments because they would later form the core of the senior team.

{module[87]}