Jammu, May 2: A day after The Tribune carried a story on the hardships faced by some girl hockey players in Jammu, an executive member from a renowned sports club from Faridkot in Punjab on Tuesday offered to provide financial assistance to them.
An English daily had reported that a group of 15 girls from poor background but with a lot of potential visit the local AstroTurf stadium for practice sessions daily. The girls cannot afford a bus ride, so walk for 3-4 km to reach the stadium near the University of Jammu. The families of the girls, sometimes, find it difficult to even arrange three meals a day.
Early Tuesday morning, Gurinder Singh Bawa, one of the executive members of Baba Farid Hockey Club, Faridkot, Punjab, called the English daily to offer financial help to the needy players.
A resident of Muktsar, Punjab, Bawa said: “Our club is 26 years old. We are doing our level best to promote the game. We recently celebrated 25 years of the foundation of the club. We want to help these poor girls from Jammu who have a lot of potential but limited resources.”
“Besides organising hockey tournaments on regular basis, we are also offering coaching to players, including girls. I personally want to help these players with some financial assistance and later, we will also try to provide the much-needed support from the club’s side too,” he added.
“I will talk to hockey coach Veena Chib and get the details of the most-affected girls so that assistance can be first provided to them. They should not stop playing this beautiful game just due to lack of financial help,” Bawa added.
Meanwhile, taking note of the story, J&K State Sports Council secretary Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para said: “We are trying to revive the game again in the state, particularly for girls. We are also planning to establish a special hockey academy. Let’s see.”
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
