With legal battle over, hockey’s glory days are set to return

With senior police officer Kamal Pushpakumara overcoming a legal battle that challenged his eligibility to head Sri Lanka Hockey Federation, the glory days of Hockey are set to return as he is free to contest the upcoming AGM for the post of President.

Pushpakumara, a multi-talented sportsman, has got plenty in his plate as a senior police officer, but that doesn’t prevent him from dedicating time for the sport he loves as he is confident of turning things around for a sport that has lost its glamour over the years.

Some may say that it is wishful thinking to make Sri Lanka the best hockey playing nation in the Asian region above India, Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia but that is going to be the vision of Pushpakumara.

A Senior Superintendent of Police, Pushpakumara has a few tricks up his sleeve in order to make Sri Lanka a force to be reckoned with in the region in hockey.

Pushpakumara represented Police in both cricket and hockey and made several tours overseas. Sri Lanka won the Police Cricket World Cup in Worcestershire in England under his captaincy.

One of his main plans to improve the game of hockey is to increase the number of kids playing the game by reaching out to new schools to join the game and sustaining them in the sport without giving up halfway through.

Improving the infrastructure at grassroots levels, making the role of umpires and technical support professional are other areas that have been looked at in a bid to create interest and make improvements in the game. Virtually, this can be termed as the short-term goal.

There will be an Elite Pool established comprising 100 children from the age group of 16 to 19 to undergo a long-term training program targeting future international events.

The main fan base of Hockey is at Matale, Kandy, Colombo, Wennapuwa, Kalutara, Jaffna, Matara, Gampaha, Badulla and Galle. One of the main areas that have been looked at is to promote the game in the areas where the game is existing and to take the game to districts which do not play hockey.

Developing the game all around the island will not only help identify players with exceptional skill levels but it also increases awareness on healthy life styles. The player development will be focused on two areas – schools and districts.

The development efforts will be done by qualified coaches with the help from International Hockey Federation and Asian Hockey Federation.

He also intends to establish an IPL like domestic franchise-based tournament with the participation of foreign players and he believes that this will create lot of interest on the game. The help of Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa in this regard is highly valued.

Sri Lanka were ranked number four in Asia in the 1960s but currently the team has suffered huge setbacks to be ranked 11th. More recently, the sport has run into problems and a fresh face is needed to address the burning issues of the game. SSP Pushpakumara with a visionary attitude and a desire to work hard is the ideal person to do the job.