‘Take one match at a time’: Eliza Nelson to Indian women ahead of Olympic qualifiers

Eliza Nelson, former Captain of the Indian women’s hockey team, urged the Indian players to take one match at a time in their pursuit to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Take one match at a time and make your way to the Final. We have to win, as there are no two ways about it,” Eliza, a Padma Shri awardee, said in the 51st episode of Hockey Te Charcha, a podcast series launched by Hockey India.

The Indian women's team will play at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers from January 13 to 19 with a hope of qualifying for the Olympics.

India are placed in Pool B along with New Zealand, Italy, and the United States. Meanwhile, Germany, Japan, Chile, and the Czech Republic will battle it out in Pool A.

India will open their campaign against the United States on January 13, followed by a match against New Zealand on January 14. They will go up against Italy in the last Pool B match on January 16.

Recalling her journey as a hockey player, Eliza, who was born in a Goan family in Pune, said, “During the early ’70s in Pune, a lot of people were playing hockey and I used to live close by where my then coach Mr. Minoo Golakari lived and he used to watch me play in the lane next to my house. My sister and I used to do little knocking of the ball every now and then and he would stand there and watch me.

"One day he approached me and asked, why don’t you join the Kayani Club? He knew I was good at athletics in school, so he placed me as a right extreme. Back then, we had positions of right extreme, left extreme and centre forward, which are not there today, so that’s how I joined and played for the Maharashtra Junior team.

"I started with the Junior team with the club and then moved on to the Junior State team and then the Senior State team and so my journey started," she added.

Interestingly, more than 26 players from Pune have represented India, and 7 have captained the Indian women's team.

In a world where barriers persist, sports women have been breaking the glass ceiling by embracing the challenge.

Expressing her thoughts on the same, Eliza said, “Compared to other regions in the country, we live in an entirely different environment in South India, where parents always encourage their kids to go forward and play.”

Eliza was the captain of Indian team which clinched the historic gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games, held in New Delhi at jam-packed Shivaji Stadium.

She was also part of the Indian Team which finished fourth in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, the first-ever ever appearance at the quadrennial extravaganza.