Hockey runs in blood of this 53-yr-old International umpire

“The day I am taken out of the ground is the day I will breathe my last,” said Gurinder Singh Sangha, expressing his passion, love and admiration for the sport. The 53-year-old international hockey umpire hails from Jandu Sangha in Jalandhar.

Sangha is a physical education lecturer at Olympian Manpreet Singh Government Senior Secondary School, Mithapur. His talent and contribution to the field of hockey are praiseworthy.

The International Hockey Federation (IHF) had appointed Sangha as the umpire manager for the Junior Asia Cup last year. The event was held in Oman from November 26 to December 4. He was also the umpire manager for the 19th Asian Games and was declared the umpire manager for 2022. Sangha has served as the umpire manager in prominent international games like the Asian Games, Olympic qualifiers and Asia Cup.

He started playing when he was 13. He studied at Doaba Khalsa Senior Secondary School and played at the school, district, state and national levels.

Sangha’s father, who was in the Air Force, was also an international-level hockey player. “I also wanted to represent my country, but, because for some reason, I couldn’t do it. That hurt me a lot, but I didn’t want to leave sports. So, I decided to take up teaching and coaching,” he told The Tribune.

After completing his master’s in 1996 from the GNDU, Amritsar, he got a permanent job in the Education Department. Interestingly, when he joined Government School Hazara, he created a football team there. “I play football as well. “So, I formed a very nice football team from where the students reached heights, and I am proud of them,” Sangha said.

He was also appointed the assistant education officer (sports), but he lost touch with the ground for a while. That didn’t go well with Sangha, and he decided to leave the job and return to teaching. “The reason I say I cannot leave the ground is because it is everything to me. Also, to be able to train others, I should be healthy myself first. I never miss my workout,” he said.

In 2018, the IHF appointed him as an international hockey umpire manager so that he could guide and train new umpires. He has been serving as a member of Hockey India’s technical and umpiring committee for years.

He has also given training to international hockey players Olympians Sukhjit Singh, Hardik Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh. “Game ne mainu bahut kuch ditta hai (This game has given me a lot). I will never leave it, no matter what,” he said.