HIL, a much-needed circle penetration from Dilip Tirkey

When Delhi SG Pipers and Team Gonasika took the field in the first game of the revamped Hockey India League in Rourkela, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey looked content while witnessing the extravaganza unfold.

A former Indian captain and one of the best defenders Indian hockey has seen, Dilip's expression was the culmination of all the efforts spent on realizing the dream of restarting the Hockey India League.

Reigniting a dream

The first version of HIL which started in 2013 and continued for five seasons had to shut shop in 2017 due to an unsustainable model and financial burdens.

Since 2017, Indian hockey fans and the whole sports landscape needed a competition like HIL to provide Indian youngsters with quality game time.

After India won the historic bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it looked like the league would capitalize on the hype of the bronze medal. However, a franchise league never materialized due to administrative issues and the departure of former Hockey India President Narinder Batra.

With Dilip Tirkey becoming the first-ever player president of Hockey India in 2022, it finally looked like the dream of restarting HIL might come true.

While it might have taken another two years and another Olympic bronze medal owing to the efforts of Hockey India with Dilip Tirkey at the helm, the league is back with a revamped version and has a historic first-ever Women's league with four teams.

An excited Dilip Tirkey told The Bridge that everyone's support was required for the league's return.

"I am thrilled that HIL is coming back. And with everyone's support, our secretaries-general, our office body, our franchisee, our owners, without their support, we could not bring it here," he said.

When Dilip took charge of the post of President at Hockey India, he had made it clear that bringing back the HIL was one of his two agendas.

"When we came, we had two important agendas. The first was the Hockey India League and grassroots hockey. And in the Hockey India League, a lot of attention was paid to both men's and women's competition and I am happy that the women's league is happening for the first time," said Dilip.

A sustainable model

Apart from the glam and glitz, the organizing committee this time has made sure that the financials of the league and the interests of the franchise owners are looked after. It has resulted in the league being limited to two venues - Rourkela for the men's league and Ranchi for the women's league.

Explaining how the venues were planned, Dilip said, "This time we have taken care that all our franchisees should not be overloaded. The previous editions of HIL had a home and away format but we decided to keep it to two cities so that the teams have ample amount to acclimatize and settle down."

"We will slowly expand the league and move to two to three cities after conversation with the franchises. If they want, we would happily introduce the home and away format," added Dilip Tirkey.  

The decision to have two centralized venues makes sense logistically with teams concentrating their efforts without any disruption. Also, both venues are known for an electric atmosphere created by the fans.

"The idea is to connect more and more fans with hockey and with the right stakeholders with us, I think we will achieve it. I am very excited to see how the league pans out," concluded Dilip Tirkey.

How the Hockey India League will pan out is a different discussion but at the moment, the dream of bringing back the Hockey India League has materialized, and this is one circle penetration that Indian hockey desperately needs. 

Note:

- The Men’s matches of the HIL will take place between the 28th of December 2024 and the 1st of February 2025 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela.

- The Women’s matches of the HIL will be played between the 12th of January and the 26th of January 2025 at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Ranchi

- Hockey India League 2024-25: Full schedule, fixtures, venues

- Free passes may be booked at https://ticketgenie.in/