Weaving Olympics dreams: Karampur in focus as three hockey academy trainees named in Asia Cup team

When Uttam Singh held the bamboo-made hockey stick for the first time at the age of just five, there was hardly any facility at the Meghbaran Singh Hockey Stadium in Karampur, around 47 km away from the holy city Varanasi. But one that the trainees didn’t lag in was the enthusiasm and motivation.

A brain-child of late Thakur Tej Bahadur Singh alias “Teju”, the facility at Karampur has been a big inspiration for almost everyone in the area. Even now, kids from 150 houses out of 240 families in the surrounding areas, play hockey inspired by countless success stories of the academy.

The facility in Karampur is in the limelight once again as three of its trainees— midfielder Raj Kumar Pal, forwards Pawan Rajbhar and Uttam Singh— made it to the Indian team for the Men’s Asia Cup, starting May 23 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Uttam along with another trainee Rahul Kumar Rajbhar was also part of the Indian squad, which finished fourth at the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup in December in Bhubaneswar.

“It’s time to enjoy the success of the stadium’s trainees at the international level. The seed, which was sown by Teju Ji a long time ago, is now producing a rich crop of talent for the Indian teams. The success of our trainees at the international level would surely inspire more trainees from the centre to work hard and get selected in the Indian teams in future also,” said the centre’s head coach Indradev on Wednesday.

Indradev, 52, who has been working here since 2005, also said it’s the hard work and dedication of the trio, which earned them a place in the Indian squad for the Jakarta event. “Playing hockey is a passion for everyone here and on any given day one can see around 130-150 players training together in seven hours sessions per day, including action on two grassy grounds here,” said the coach, who is still fighting his battle to get a permanent job here.

He, however, said that everything to the trainees at this centre comes for free as the owners of the centre provide hockey sticks, shoes, T-shirts and ever shocks. A small swimming pool for physical training of the players is also there. “Here we have the staying facilities for the kids if required and the trainees are being provided top-quality playing equipment.”

For this former captain of the Purvanchal University’s hockey team, the day begins at 4.30 am in summer. Trainees start reporting for practice at 5 am. “We hardly take a break from training, and it’s a round-the-year job for us,” said Indradev, a centre-half player of his time.

Uttam, who would be debuting for senior India during the Jakarta event too admired the role of the facility at Karampur in his success. “It’s our lifeline and especially for the boys of the area, it’s been a great support as many of them represent Uttar Pradesh and other states in the national hockey championships on regular basis, creating job opportunities for themselves too,” said Uttam.

“It’s really exciting that all three trainees from Karampur centre would be playing at the senior level for the first time together. It reminds me of our days when we used to train together at the centre,” said Uttam, son of a local farmer in Karampur.

Youngest of three siblings, Uttam said that the sport changed his life. “I was just 10 when I started playing hockey, and I was forced to join the sport as I didn’t have any other option. My father, who used to play at the local level in Karampur, asked me to join the sport, so I started reluctantly, but soon it became my passion,” said Uttam, who is now a trainee at the SAI’s Lucknow.

Uttam, 19, who scored five goals in six matches at the World Cup, now aims to represent India at the Olympics. “India’s bronze-medal win at the Tokyo Olympics has been a great inspiration to me, and I wish to win gold for India in future. That’s my ultimate dream, and I am putting all my efforts to better my performance at the international level,” said Uttam, who had a dream debut at the Sultan of Johor Cup for junior India in 2019.