How the Tamil Nadu Dragons are galvanizing hockey in the region via the HIL

When the Tamil Nadu Dragons took the field last week for their opening fixture of the 2024/25 Hockey India League, the franchise stakeholders watched on from the stands in anticipation.

While they might have finished second best to the Soorma Hockey Club in the shootout on the night, the Dragons will take heart from their performance.

After all, in the words of Uday Sinh Wala, their CEO, one of the principles of the Tamil Nadu Dragons is that “you fight till the death, doesn’t matter how up or down you are.”

A team of principles

Speaking to The Bridge, Uday shares the ethos of the team.

“We are not a team of stars,” he says, while adding that the emphasis has been “to build a team (on) unity and to build a character that we’re going to show on the field.”

In order to do that the franchise has been integrating the youngsters in the thinking process along with the seniors.

This, as per Uday, is vital to develop a sense of ownership.

“You’ve got to create a cohesive whole and a sense of ownership across the board.”

But creating a unified entity takes time, something that wasn’t available in abundance here.

As is the case with most other teams, the Dragons had to get their players organized at short notice.

“Our last international player arrived on the 27th, so it’s not been an easy journey,” says Uday.

So, how then is the franchise working to build the ‘whole’?

A set of ‘hooks’

At the outset, Uday is clear in his communication to his wards – “Nobody here is by luck of the auctions. Every single person has been selected by us and we would like to have them in our team.”

It is akin to telling a player he belongs in the squad. A message to this effect from the management to a player has the potential to do wonders to one’s psyche.

Additionally, Uday shares that players were picked on their ability to be team players rather than those that took the field as individual celebrities.

Secondly, the CEO shares that the emphasis when putting together the squad was limiting the number of languages that players spoke.

“We’ve paired together in practice on of the youngest guy with the senior most and most decorated players to play together in certain situations and forced them to communicate even though one speaks only Tamil and the other speaks English and German, and they’ve been able to overcome the bridge of language by using the bridge of hockey.”

It’s an intelligent principle where the sport takes precedence, and the language of hockey is spoken the loudest.

And hockey is at the forefront for the franchise and the company behind it.

Hockey, front and center

For a multidimensional company like The Charles Group (the owners of the Tamil Nadu Dragons) which has interests in media, construction, distribution of essential commodities and the lottery business, sports (and hockey in particular) has been on the radar for a while.

Having sponsored the men’s hockey national championship, it became clear to them that the state of Tamil Nadu had plenty of young hockey aspirants.

To lend impetus, the company organized a school-level program across 16-districts and over 140 schools which culminated in a tournament which saw four teams travel to Chennai for a semi-final and final that was played out under lights at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.

While Uday is convinced about the existence of hockey talent in the state, more efforts are needed, he says, to determine if “it lies between the U14 or the U17.”

Another area of focus for him is coaching at the grassroots.

“We believe that if you don’t have good teachers you can’t have good students.”

And therefore, one of the to-do’s going forward is skill upgradation in grassroot coaching.

“If the coaches improve, the quality of plan and the quality of talent will improve exponentially,” says Uday.

And so, in the years to come, with the backing of The Charles Group, hockey in the state will have a new war cry and the grassroots in the region will ignite, all thanks to the presence of the Tamil Nadu Dragons in the Hockey India League.

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 on https://ticketgenie.in/