Roller hockey on a roll, contests on the rise

In a cricket-driven space, roller hockey has managed to grab the eyeballs of sports lovers in Chandigarh. During the recently concluded Chandigarh State Roller Hockey Championships for cadet sub-junior, junior and masters’ categories, a whopping number of 700 skaters participated — perhaps the highest number for state championships conducted in any sport in Chandigarh.

Notably, all skaters represented a set of limited teams — which have fielded more than one team as A team and B team in the event.

The trend clearly shows that skating is getting popular among youngsters and a handful of school and clubs are promoting the sport at the highest level.

“Since the sport is included in the UT Sports Department’’s sports gradation and scholarship policies, it has seen a tremendous response from parents. The skating events start from the U-10 age group, where kids participate in a good number. This also gives a major push to the sport,” said a senior coach, seeking anonymity.

“Its (skating and roller skating) inclusion in the scholarship scheme under the Sports Department has attracted a lot of parents and kids. We are happy to receive such a warm response and will try to come up with better facilities in future,” said Sarabjit Singh Mangat, secretary, Chandigarh Roller Skating Association.

The high number of skaters’ participation also increases the level of competition among senior players as well as in the junior age groups. Not just the players, but their parents also carry immense pressure, which can be seen as they root for their wards from the sidelines of the skating rink.

“I have specially taken a three-day off from my office to watch my kid play for his club team (cadet age group in quads roller hockey). The competition is pretty high and besides the coaches, we have the duty to push our wards for a better performance,” said Sheetal who was passionately ordering his son to play better every time he received the ball.

The story was no different in the inline roller hockey event, where the players fought for the puck (the small rubber disc) inside the rink and their parents applied pressure from outside. “Sometimes it’s tough to play and ignore all the guidance from outside. However, it’s a part of the sport. There’s no doubt about the competition...for instance, we have three teams playing in this event from the same club. Everyone is fully aware about the strengths and weaknesses of the players, so it’s a bit difficult to play roller hockey these days,” added Gursimrat, a skater.

Comparing modern day roller hockey with the sport in the past, a former player Ravinder added, “A lot has changed in the sport. The neighbouring states were performing well, but Chandigarh has got a major push in recent years. The skaters are also very much passionate. For instance, a skater who is not able to compete in the speed events, shifts to roller hockey, which again makes it popular. The competition among parents and skaters will increase in coming years. In past years, there were only a handful of people interested in the sport — especially in inline roller hockey, given the high rate of injuries.”