Almost after 100 years of its existence, the Aligarh Muslim University is all set to have its own girls Hockey team. If the team is ready on time, they could well be playing their first game in an inter-school tournament in February next year. The preparations are already in place as the girls have already started training.
Talking about the passion for hockey, Naseem Zehra told leading daily TOI that she would fall from her bed thinking about hockey even while asleep. Another teammate of hers Alia Rashid cannot part with her hockey stick – she carries it everywhere, even to her classroom.
There is an air of positivity all around the campus with everyone putting in their efforts to make the team gather all its strength. Not just juniors but even seniors have taken up the game . Afreen Ali, a final year student said she took special permission from her hostel warden to play hockey after her classes.
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Eight years ago, Razia Rizvi, Deputy Director, physical education at AMU’s women college tried hard to make girls play hockey but things did not work out. Now, things are changing for the better and there is a long glorious way to go.
The university is known for producing stalwart hockey players like Zafar Iqbal, Masood Minaj, Ahsan Mohammad Khan, Madan Lal, Lt A Shakoor, all of whom have represented the country in the Olympics.
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