Indian Olympic Hockey Team Captain Manpreet was not allowed to pick up Hockey stick in his childhood

In my early days, my family found it difficult to understand my interest towards the game so I was not allowed to pick up a hockey stick. I also remember being locked up by my mother for a day in the room to prevent me from playing but I managed to escape and go play anyway. Coach then told my elder brother to let me try once if I was so keen.- Manpreet Singh

 

 

Khel Today Bureau

NEW DELHI: Indian Hockey Team captain Manpreet was not allowed to pick up Hockey stick in his childhood. His mother once locked him in a room to stop him playing but he managed to flew to play. Manpreet worked very hard and result of that, he will lead Indian Hockey Team in Tokyo 2029 Olympic Games.

Manpreet told ‘Hockey India’ that, I was born in a farming family in rural Punjab, I took to playing hockey when I was nine years old. In my early days, my family found it difficult to understand my interest towards the game so I was not allowed to pick up a hockey stick. I also remember being locked up by my mother for a day in the room to prevent me from playing but I managed to escape and go play anyway. Coach then told my elder brother to let me try once if I was so keen.Shortly after, I started competing in local tournaments and won my first prize of Rs. 500 cash. From that point onwards, my family saw and started embracing my passion for the sport. So, in 2005, I enrolled myself in one of India’s most sought-after academies, the Surjit Hockey Academy of Jalandhar. There was no stopping from there. From representing the State at the National Championships to being hand-picked by selectors for the National Coaching Camp, it was all surreal.

I made my first major event debut when I represented India at the 2012 Games in London. I was later named the Captain of the Junior Indian Team at the 2013 Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup and again at the 2013 Sultan of Johor Cup, where we won the Gold Medal. My first gold medal as an international athlete.

From that first Gold to each one that followed after, I dedicate all of them to my mother.Recalling 2016 when I learnt the news of my father passing away while I was in Malaysia playing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, if it wouldn’t have been for her, I would have not returned to participate in the tournament again. I was shocked because I was told minutes before our match against Japan. All my teammates advised me to leave immediately and after I reached home, completed the rituals and sat with my mom, the only thing she could ask me to do is return back. She told me that my other family is waiting for me in Malaysia and they need me there. That’s the kind of impact my mother has had on my life.

I would be nothing if it wasn’t for my mother. I think I owe her everything that I have earned over the years. I share everything with her. I tell her about my good days, about my bad days and days when I feel I have lost everything. She keeps motivating me and asking me to keep doing better.

At first, the opportunity to win trophies is what attracted me to the sport but now, it’s about serving and representing my country. I am both honoured and humbled to wear the Indian colour on my shoulders at #TokyoOlympics.We have trained, we have rested. We are ready now.

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