HOCKEY FOR GROWTH

Today's youth views sport as an employment-enhancing vocational skill which can help them escape from the vicious circle of poverty. There are many sports other than Cricket where players from Bharat have excelled because individual talent received precedence. Among team games, Hockey, considered to be India's national game by many, is seeing an unprecedented resurgence.

Hockey For Growth is an initiative by Stairs along with the former captain of the Indian Hockey team Dileep Tirkey to connect Bharat with India. Many feel hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, and not God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar, should have been the first sportsman to receive the Bharat Ratna. Stairs feels that contributing to the reinvigoration of hockey will be the best homage to Dhyan Chand.

Hockey For Growth aims to distribute around 100,000 hockey across the country as the first step. This will be done by inviting donations from individuals, corporate and other institutions to purchase and distribute hockey.

The programme also envisages:

• Holding grass-root level tournaments
• Selecting players from among the participants in these tournaments for scholarships
• Facilitating the selection of these players in state and national Hockey teams