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From a life lost to lives nurtured - the story of Kurali’s Gopal Hockey Academy
Gopal Hockey Academy — started by coach Amritpal in the memory of his brother, who died in a road accident — is now changing the fortunes of young, aspiring players, mostly from humble backgrounds
When siblings Yuvraj Singh, 9, and Rajbir Singh, 8, visited the Gopal Hockey Academy last year with their father, a mason, he doubted whether his sons would be able to pursue the sport as he did not have money to pay for even the basic equipment. The only thing he was sure of, however, was that hockey could be a gateway to a better life for his sons and this belief got wings when coach Amritpal took the siblings under his fold.
Now, after one year in the sport, though the siblings are too young to understand what it means to represent the country, ask them what they want to be in future and the prompt reply is: “champion”.
“Most of the kids that come here are from a very humble backgrounds; so apart from free training, we provide them sticks, balls and even playing kits. These kids hardly have any means of their own to support their sport, but they have a hunger to do something in life and that is the driving force for big achievements in the sport,” says coach Amritpal, who works with Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) as a junior engineer during the day and doubles up as a coach in the evening.
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CHANGING FORTUNES
Former national-level hockey player Amritpal opened the academy in the memory of his brother, who lost his life in a tragic road accident.
Harjeet Singh, the skipper of the junior world cup winning team, is a proud trainee of the academy and around 15 of the trainees, mainly from cash-strapped families, have got jobs in various government sectors under the sports quota.
“It was January 24, 1997, my brother Gopal and I were on a motorcycle when a speeding car with a red beacon hit us. After that the only thing I remember was that I was on a hospital bed at PGI. I was critical, so nobody informed me about the demise of my brother and whenever I used to enquire about him, I used to get a standard answer that he was critical and doctors were attending to him. It was after three months that the family disclosed his death. We were more than brothers, we had played hockey together,” recalls Amritpal.
“Once I was out of the hospital, some of my friends gave me the idea of opening up a hockey academy in Gopal’s name and by this we could keep his memories alive. The idea appealed to me and next year in 1998 I opened an academy at the Chukwal Senior Secondary School in Kurali. Later in 2004, then sports minister Jagmohan Singh Kang got this small stadium built.”
Amritpal’s deceased brother Gopal’s son Deepanshu Bhargav became the first international player from the academy. He represented the Indian Combined Universities team in the South Asia Universities Championship held in Amritsar in 2008 and also bagged a job in AG Punjab.
The biggest star to emerge so far from the centre is Harjeet and in 2016, Inderpreet Kaur became the first girl from the centre to don the national colours.
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NO SUPPORT FROM GOVT
Despite showing good results, the academy has not had any support from the Punjab government. The only thing that the state government has provided is a small stadium — Shaheed Beant Singh Memorial Hockey Stadium. It is still incomplete and the gymnasium that was installed in 2004 is in bad shape now. For training equipment, whether it is hockey sticks, balls or goal post, Amirtpal has dug into his own pocket for money. “It’s been two decades from when we have been running this academy and from day one, the academy offers free training. But when it comes to government support, we have got nothing except for the ground,” he says. “Our senior trainees, who are now employed, contribute regularly, which is why we can provide the basic equipment to the children and keep the centre running. Apart from that we get help from local samaritans,” he adds.
Amritpal’s wish list from the government is a six-a-side turf. “Turf can be a great help for us and we can produce more champions. Now, after spending some time with us, the children can go to outstation academies where they can get turf and further enhance their skills,” he says.
