Russia’s tryst with the ‘other’ hockey

Apr 11 2015

Pioneers of Soviet field hockey in 1969. Source: RIA Novosti/Utkin

Field hockey is in dire need of support in a country, which is passionate about the sport’s richer stepsister, played on ice. At one time, the Soviet Union managed to produce some highly competitive field hockey squads.

Back in the days when the Soviet football team used to regularly hammer their hapless Indian counterparts, there was a joke among sporting circles that India would exact revenge on the hockey pitch. Although the Russians were giants in ice hockey, winning 7 gold medals in the Olympics (8, if you count 1992 when the athletes played as the Unified Team), field hockey is a sport where the country was never able to reach such heights. Yet, the Soviet team made rapid strides to go as far as the World Cup semifinal in London in 1986.

The Russians made a late entry into the world of field hockey. The All Union Bandy and Field Hockey Federation of the USSR was established in 1967. “Given the state support and encouragement for all sports, people took to field hockey very well,” says Tomar van den Hengel, a Dutch writer who is working on a book about the development of field hockey in Europe. “They had a competitive side in the 1980 Summer Olympics but the bronze will always be tarnished with the fact that there was a boycott from several top teams,” she adds.

Winning the bronze at the Moscow Olympics was a huge boost for the Soviet team, which qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Bombay and finished in 6^th place. The names from those teams are all but forgotten in a country that has been spoilt for success in the international sports arena. The USSR took part in two more World Cups, losing to eventual champions Australia in the semi finals in 1986. The last hurrah came at the 1990 edition of the World Cup in Lahore when the USSR ended up in sixth place.

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“The greatest moments for field hockey in this country came in 1986 in London,” van den Hengel says. “That team beat Pakistan, England and Argentina, but ran out of gas in the semi finals when they were overwhelmed by the Australians.” She rues the fact that there is very little information about the team that achieved so much against such odds in the days of Perestroika.

A sport that held much promise was one more casualty of the demise of the Soviet Union. From being a top six side in the sport, Russia now has a global ranking of 19, which is even below minnows- Japan, Ireland and France.

For some strange reason, officials from the Russian Hockey Federation were not willing to talk on the record for this article. “The problem is funding…Ice hockey gets 4000 times the amount that we get,” says a federation official who was not authorized to talk to the media. “We have the talent in this country but the high and mighty only indulge in ‘propaganda’ for other sports.” He insists that the average Russian has no clue that hockey is even played on grass! Taking this official up on a challenge, I picked ten random friends in different age groups who have some inclination for sports. Just one of them had heard of field hockey.

Despite the glum outlook, Russia does have some basic infrastructure in place, and veterans who tasted success in the 1980s. The sport also has a small reach in different parts of the country. According to the website of the Russian Hockey Federation, there are affiliated clubs in Moscow, St Petersburg and 7 regions in the country. The federation also boasts of 8000 members and organises over 50 events for children, juniors and seniors.