The ISBHF continues to bring the great game to the furthest corners of the planet, with India being the most recent addition to its growing list of active nations! Having India now developing and promoting ball hockey within its borders represents a major breakthrough for ball hockey growth globally.
You’ve seen snippets of video on the ISBHF Facebook feed, but how did this actually take place? This past September, Mr. Wayne Chow from Hong Kong travelled to Chandigarh, India on behalf of the ISBHF, to host the 1st National India Ball Hockey Training Seminar. Mr. Chow was met by by the Messrs. Parminder Singh of the Ball Hockey Association of Chandigarh and Waseem Raju Khan of India’s governing ball hockey body, the India Ball Hockey Federation.
The four day ball hockey seminar and training camp was led by Mr. Chow, with 150 players both male and female and coaches from 22 Indian States attending. Enthusiast attendees new to ball hockey were first given a three day course on hockey fundamentals, rules & regulations, individual and team skills and drills, and basic refereeing knowledge combined with time spent outdoors honing basic individual hockey skills.
The stage was set for the fourth day when all players were assigned to State teams to compete in a series of head to head games on the last full day of training. Coaches were given the duty of refereeing the games in two empty parking lots with goal nets made of colored traffic cones. It was just like we all played the game growing up. Lots of fun for all, some hacks on the shins, a few high sticks, orange balls flying out of bounds but all players and referees survived and intact. It was fond memories of playing ball hockey in Canada, albeit “Hockey Night in Chandigarh!”
A great time was had by all and in addition to this, this training conference now lays a framework for major growth in the second most populated country in the world. Expect significant news from India in the months to come! ISBHF would like to express its sincere appreciation to Wayne Chow for his effort and tremendous accomplishments in India, and Waseem Raju for planting the seeds of development in what could one day become a global powerhouse in every facet of ball hockey performance.
Here is the full Schedule of Events:
Day 1 – 22nd September 2018 Opening Ceremony, Press Conference and Inspection of the Grounds
Day 2 – 23rd September 2018 Seminar & Presentation AM and Training PM
- PowerPoint presentations and videos of ice and ball hockey training and competitions.
- Background of ball hockey, derivations from ice hockey in Canada and development of ball hockey globally by the ISBHF.
- Introduction of ISBHF.
- Rules and regulations of ball hockey, rink dimensions, team composition, equipment, penalties, officials, basic training during the 1st National training.
- Training session included basic individual skills training such as holding a stick, shooting, passing, positioning, and breakouts, and mini games with both female and male teams.
Day 3 – 24th September 2018 Seminar AM Q&A Session and Training
- Seminar session was a further elaboration from yesterday’s presentation and 2-way conversation pertaining to equipment, coaching and managing a team, rules and regulations, and refereeing.
- Training session focused on team play.
Day 4 – 25th September 2018 Team competitions
- Establish friendly game environment between States for both male and female participants. Applying skills and techniques from seminar. 1st day of real gamesmanship and referee training…hands on application and true street hockey games as we did (and still do) in Canada.
Day 5 – 26th September 2018
- Examination, Certificates and Awards, Closing Ceremony with Government Dignitaries
Total attendees: 150 persons consisting of new players and coaches from other sports background coming from various states in India!