New Delhi, 23 June 2018: It was that time of the year when Hockey India’s Member Units came together in unison to mark this year’s Olympic Day with innovative ways to spread the spirit of sportsmanship. Through various activities, it was Hockey India’s initiative to strengthen the link that children, young people and adults already have with the sport and through these activities it brought together people from different walks of life without any gender and physical biases, to provide an opportunity to get their first experience of the sport.
From hosting tournaments to organizing exhibitions, workshops, meet-and-greet former international players, educational seminars, quizzes at NGOs, singing and dancing and even cake cutting were some of the main features of the celebrations across different member units in the country that brought hundreds of hockey lovers together.
Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability. Marking the 70th Olympic Day, Hockey India through various activities endorsed IOC’s campaign called ‘UnitedBy’ that champions to bring together stories, experiences and events of Olympism from across the sporting world.
Taking cue from the three pillars of Olympic Day – “Move”, “Learn” and “Discover”, member units Assam Hockey, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, Hockey Mizoram, Manipur Hockey, Telangana Hockey, Hockey Rajasthan, Bengaluru Hockey Association, Hockey Coorg, Goans Hockey, Hockey Madhya Bharat, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd, RDT Hockey Academy, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Himachal, Hockey Haryana, Hockey Bihar, Hockey Gujarat, Chhattisgarh Hockey, Tripura Hockey, Mata Sahib Kaur Hockey Academy, Olympian Vivek Singh Hockey Academy, Citizen Hockey XI, Hockey Patiala, Andhra Hockey Association to name a few conducted two-day hockey tournaments. Through these tournaments, the member units promoted the benefits of physical exercise, inspiring people to get active and embrace the Olympic ideals regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.
Speaking on the occasion, Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India, said, “Marking this very special year when India hosts the world’s most prestigious event – the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, the zeal to embrace sports as a way of life was made evident by our member units as they conducted various activities to bring people from different age, gender and athletic ability together and promoted the benefits of engaging in sports. Some of the member units encouraged month-long activities in their respective centres to draw people’s attention towards health benefits of playing sports. The events organised under the supervision of Hockey India to mark the Olympic Day witnessed young and the old get together to celebrate the Olympic Day. These annual celebrations help hundreds of participants understand and value the Olympics ideology and also highlights Hockey’s role in making India shine in global arena.”
List of member units who celebrated the Olympic Day:
1 Assam Hockey
2 Hockey Bihar
3 Chhattisgarh Hockey
4 Hockey Gujarat
5 Hockey Haryana
6 Hockey Himachal
7 Hockey Jammu & Kashmir
8 Hockey Jharkhand
9 Hockey Karnataka
10 Kerala Hockey
11 Hockey Maharashtra
12 Manipur Hockey
13 Hockey Mizoram
14 Hockey Rajasthan
15 Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu
16 Uttar Pradesh Hockey
17 Hockey Uttarakhand
18 Hockey Andhra Pradesh
19 Bengal Hockey Association
20 Delhi Hockey
21 Goans Hockey
22 Hockey Madhya Pradesh
23 Hockey Odisha
24 Hockey Puducherry
25 Hockey Punjab
26 Bengaluru Hockey Association
27 Hockey Bhopal
28 Hockey Chandigarh
29 Hockey Coorg
30 Hockey HIM
31 Hockey Madhya Bharat
32 The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd
33 Tripura Hockey
34 Hockey Patiala
35 Andhra Hockey Association
36 Central Secretariat (Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board)
37 Canara Bank
38 Tamil Nadu Hockey Academy
39 Hubli Hockey Academy
40 Manaparai Hockey Academy
41 Mata Sahib Kaur Hockey Academy
42 Oympian Vivek Singh Hockey Academy
43 SDT Hockey Nilgiris Academy
44 Baba Uttam Singh National Hockey Academy
45 Malwa Hockey Academy Hanumangarh
46 Citizen Hockey XI
47 Mumbai School Sports Association