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When Indians were left bruised blue and black

BHUBANESWAR:Former Indian Navy striker RS Bal remembered a particularly rough match.

When Indians were left bruised blue and black

China’s Guo Jin (bottom) reacts from an injury during a penalty corner while France’s Victor Charlet (C) looks during their cross-over match in Bhubaneswar on Monday. AFP



Indervir Grewal

Tribune News Service

Bhubaneswar, December 10 

Former Indian Navy striker RS Bal remembered a particularly rough match. It had rained before the match. The centre-forward was up against two very hard, rough-playing, defenders. “When I walked off the field after the match, I was muddy and bloody,” said Bal, visiting from Switzerland for the World Cup.

The year was 1963 and hockey was played on grass. Bal was barefoot, as was the prevalent practice at the time because “the canvas shoes were very slippery”. 

Whatever little protective gear there was, it wasn’t enough. “We had blackened toes, bruised shins,” added Bal, who played for the Indian Navy for almost 10 years. He went on to become a successful coach in Germany, leading a women’s club team to the national league title twice and the European final twice. 

Goalkeepers got the worst of it. “We didn’t have helmets,” said Arvind Chhabra, who played for India in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “We had no chest guards, no arm guards. There were small gloves and pads till below the knees, made with wooden sticks and cloth. We would get bruised all over our body,” the former Indian Airlines goalkeeper added. 

“Once, during the national camp, the ball hit me in the face and my jaw broke. I had to sit out for almost a year,” added Chhabra, who later worked with the Indian women’s team.

It took some years for the helmets to come in. Over the decades, with technological and scientific advancements, safety equipment has seen huge improvement. The equipment wore these days is lighter yet safer. Goalkeepers are covered from head to toe, while the outfield players have teeth-guards, gloves, bigger shin-guards and shoes with better grip. 

However, the stick has also changed — with the composite stick, players can generate much more power now. The ball has become harder. The game has also become faster, more physical and demanding.  Despite safety improvements, the perils remain. Bruises are still common and there are occasional fractures and dislocations. But in 2012, hockey had its most horrifying incident when a 24-year-old Australian player died after getting hit by the ball during a local women’s match. Though it was a freak accident — the ball deflected off her own stick and hit her in the back of the head — the incident reminds every one of the dangers of the game.

Dangers of penalty corners

Penalty corners, specifically, have been on top of the list whenever safety has been discussed in the last decade. With the speed of drag-flicks reaching up to 100 kilometres per hour, the defenders come under direct fire during penalty corners. India’s analytical coach Chris Ciriello was among the first group of players who demanded better safety measures. “After Phil Hughes got hit in the head and died, we started playing with baseball helmets (while defending penalty corner), and they (FIH) allowed us,” said Ciriello.

Change in FIH rules led to better safety measures. The FIH allowed players to wear facemasks and kneepads while defending penalty corners. But Ciriello said the helmet was crucial because it “covered the back of the head”. “I still think they should be able to use it. They (FIH) need to review it because the face mask doesn’t cover the back of your head,” he said. 

During the second crossover match on Monday, a Chinese rusher took hits thrice in a row while defending French penalty corners. He had to be stretchered off the field. There have been discussions about whether the penalty corner needed a rethink, with former Australia coach Ric Charlesworth the biggest voice in favour of eliminating the drag-flick altogether. 

However, Ciriello said the right way forward was to improve safety. “Drag-flick is a skillset. It is about making sure the players are safer as the skills are getting faster and harder,” Ciriello said.

Ciriello’s thoughts showcase the players’ mentality. Whether it was the 1960s or 1980s or current time, the game looks much more dangerous from outside than to the players on the field. “I think as a player you just want to play,” said former Australia striker Glenn Turner. 

Turner was a tough player himself, who regularly took body hits and slid in for deflections. Giving the example of the World Cup, Turner said: “It has been pretty safe here, like you can see.” 

The players will play the game no matter what. They will take hits for their country. The onus, therefore, falls on the international federation to ensure the safety standards keep improving with time.

England’s concussion policy 

England came to the World Cup without their best striker in recent times --- Sam Ward. The decision to drop Ward came just a week before the event. Ward was “gutted”, but England’s strict concussion protocol meant the 27-year-old couldn’t take the flight to India.  Ward had picked up a slight concussion in a practice match after being hit by the ball on his head. “In UK, they have a very strict protocol around concussion,” said England coach Danny Kerry. “We test them when they are in the programme. They go through some basic cognitive brain tests. Then if anyone gets a concussion, they redo the tests to understand the severity of the concussion. They do those tests on a frequent basis until there are no more symptoms at all. Only then do we do a seven-day return that builds up to playing with others with stick and ball involved.” Kerry added that the concussion protocol had been around for around eight years. “I think with the research coming out of rugby, American football, people realise that if you make people go back (to sport) too soon, it could lead to serious damage,” Kerry said. Kerry said that the players in the UK were more aware now. “In the past, maybe 10-15 years ago, people would dismiss it, they would be like ‘I have just got a sore head’. But that has changed now, players understand the serious nature of a concussion,” the coach said.

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