Hm, that explains why the league is beginning later this season than it did last season.
My dissapointment is that this is once again a 1 month thing. Is this normal in hockey or is this just because of the format. I would love to see a 6-month league here.
There are different reasons for that:-
1) Hockey is semi-professional sport. Limited money so leagues are fairly short and not very lucrative. Besides India, Malaysia, Holland and Germany have good leagues.
2) Players are not committed towards one club or so. Look at Indian players. They have jobs in various PSU like Air India, Punjab Police, Indian Oil so they have to play for them in various tournaments. Then play for India year round in tournaments as well as camps. Then very limited time is left. It will be risky for them to leave their jobs and go for clubs-what will they do after they reach 28-30?
3) HIL 1 month window is guaranteed by FIH that no other major tournament is played in that time-so Hockey players can play there. 6 month no such window is there.
So I can see the PSU problem being resolved eventually with the money that is in this league but ya... 1 and 3 seem quite difficult to deal with and really is a shame.
Hopefully this will get better as time goes on... same with the IPL. Sports leagues just dont seem right being 1-2 month things to me... they just dont make sense.
In hockey, PSU is the solution, not a problem. They not only employ the players at respectable salaries hut also own a lot of hockey related infrastructure in various parts of the country. AFAIK nowhere a hockey league lasts long. Players generally do have other professions
Comments
1) Hockey is semi-professional sport. Limited money so leagues are fairly short and not very lucrative. Besides India, Malaysia, Holland and Germany have good leagues.
2) Players are not committed towards one club or so. Look at Indian players. They have jobs in various PSU like Air India, Punjab Police, Indian Oil so they have to play for them in various tournaments. Then play for India year round in tournaments as well as camps. Then very limited time is left. It will be risky for them to leave their jobs and go for clubs-what will they do after they reach 28-30?
3) HIL 1 month window is guaranteed by FIH that no other major tournament is played in that time-so Hockey players can play there. 6 month no such window is there.
indian badminton(girls/ladies) is the next big thing in indian sports now i guess