National Sports Day: Hockey Runs In Their Blood! Bhopal Families Keep Olympic Legacy Alive Across Generations

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In Bhopal, the hockey stick has passed from one generation to another. Known as the nursery of hockey, the city has produced several top players, with the love and talent for the sport running through generations of families.

On the eve of National Sports Day, Free Press talked with three international hockey players in the city, including Samir Dad, Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi and Mohammad Yousuf, who inherited the skill and the love for the sport from their families and passed it on to their sons.

The veterans say that hockey has changed beyond recognition over the years. From a game of skills, it has become a sport of power. And that has led to declining public interest in the sport, they added.

Excerpts:

We saw our elders play and began playing

Samir Dad, an Olympian, represented India at the 1998 Asian Games, the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was a star forward of the team.

His son Konain Dad, a product of the MP Hockey Academy, helped the Academy's team win the national sub-junior championship.

Carrying his father's legacy forward, Konain is a member of the Indian National Junior Hockey Team.

Like his father, Konain also plays forward. Samir's father Niyaz Dad was a formidable veteran of the domestic hockey circuit. "No, no one in my family asked the next generation to play hockey.

My elder brothers saw my father play hockey, and they took to it. I saw my brothers play, and developed an interest in the sport.

And the same happened with my son," Samir Dad said, adding that while hockey infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh and in Bhopal has improved tremendously, public interest in the game has declined.

"People came to see the skill of the players in handling the ball. Now hockey is no longer about skill. It is about strength," he said.

You are just part of team

Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi represented India in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, USA. He played at the right wing position. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his achievements.

Three of his uncles, Qamaruddin, Nizamuddin and Aizabuddin, used to play hockey in the 1940s.

Inspired by my uncles, I began playing in the courtyard of my house. And the journey that began from there took me to the Olympics," he said.

Jalaluddin's two sons, Ali Rizvi, 33, and Hasan Rizvi, 32, are also hockey players.

Hasan has played at the national level for the Income Tax Department, while Ali, who has moved base to Italy, plays hockey as a hobby.

Hockey has lost its beauty. The skills of individual players no longer matters. You are just a part of the team," Jalaluddin said.

Hockey no longer game of skill

Mohammad Yousuf comes from a renowned hockey-playing family from the city. His father and uncles were hockey players and Mohammad Yousuf played for India in the Bangkok Asian Games.

His son Affan Yousuf, 32, is also a hockey player who plays as a forward. He was part of the Indian squad that won the 2016 Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy.

Affan, who earlier worked for the Indian Railways, is now with Indian Oil. Mohammad Yousuf says that hockey has changed a lot since his days.

"We used to play on grass. Now, it is played on astro-turf. From a game of skill and technique, hockey has transformed into a game of power," Mohammad Yousuf said.