On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Indian Women's Hockey Team's star players heaped praise on some of the new initiatives by Hockey India hailing it 'the right time to pursue hockey'.
The Captain of the team, ace goalkeeper Savita puts things in perspective and said, "When we began playing hockey, there were so many uncertainties. There was not enough support for women's hockey or for that matter for women taking up sport itself. But now so much has changed with the Federation announcing new initiatives right from the domestic circuit where recognition is guaranteed and automatically players get called-up for jobs with a good show in the National Championships."
She further added that the recent announcement by Hockey India to introduce Inter Zonal Tournaments will be a 'game changer' for the sport. "There are so many talented players and if I have to talk about my home state Haryana, there are plenty of aspiring hockey players but not all of them get a chance to represent the state because the competition is tough to make the team but with the introduction of Intra Zonal tournaments, more kids may get a chance to play for the state which is a big honour. I believe this is the right time for young women to choose hockey as a career," opined the goalie who led the Indian Team to a historic Bronze Medal in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
