Hockey is India’s official national sport and India’s national squad has earned a strong reputation on the world stage, consistently winning gold and silver medals at the Olympic Games. The speed and stick skills of India’s top hockey players really are something to marvel at. However, while there are many club teams throughout India, the sport remains elitist, largely due to the expensive equipment needed to take part. This means thousands of children do not get the chance to play and enjoy hockey in India. Therefore, by joining one of our hockey coaching volunteer projects in India, you can provide more sporting opportunities for young Indian hockey players, providing decent equipment, organising hockey coaching sessions and building or improving sports facilities in the community.

 

The first part of your hockey placement will be based in local schools around Jaipur. Access to hockey is very limited because, culturally, Indians only recognise activities as valuable if they have a direct benefit on their children’s career. The chances of becoming a professional hockey player are slim, so the schools rarely channel funds into playing hockey, or any sports for that matter. The schools are therefore very keen to welcome our volunteer hockey coaches into their schools to engage young people in sport. The second part of your hockey coaching project will be based in the slum areas. Here you will organise hockey coaching sessions and structured matches for the children, many of whom have no opportunity to play hockey or other sports.

 

You do not need coaching qualifications to join our hockey coaching project, just some experience of playing or coaching at a fairly good standard, be it school, club, university or county. This is because our aim is to provide more opportunities for young Indian children to play and enjoy hockey, not on finding India’s next Olympic hockey star – although you never know!

 

Your role in the schools will be to organise hockey coaching sessions and matches for the children. Many of the schools cannot afford to have their own Physical Education or sports teachers, so your involvement will have an immediate impact. These hockey sessions may take place during the school timetable but, usually, you will run after school hockey clubs. You will soon discover how effective your hockey sessions can be since many of the children are very talented but have simply never played in an organised team environment. By introducing the basic principles of passing, tackling and position holding, your hockey players will improve quickly. Organising hockey matches or sports days with other schools are also a great ways for children to develop a real sense of belonging with their team mates. The physical and health benefits of playing regular hockey are also an important part of your hockey coaching project.

 

Your role in the slum areas will be to provide hockey coaching and matches for many of the children who would otherwise not get to play. And you will find it very easy to get the children involved. They are mad about hockey! Again, by introducing some structure to your hockey coaching sessions and matches, your young players will show great improvement. And as your confidence grows, you will want to introduce your own ideas to your hockey sessions. This is greatly received and you will have plenty of other volunteers and in-country staff for inspiration.

 

The third part of your hockey placement will be to help improve or repair sports facilities. Not only does this provide better access to hockey for young athletes, it helps create a real sense of pride in the community. Building of renovating local sports facilities is a fantastic way of leaving something tangible behind once your leave your hockey project.

 

A hockey gap year in India is the perfect way to combine gap year travel in India with a gap year hockey coaching project in India. Thousands of gap year volunteers travel to India on their gap year each year and our gap year hockey projects give you the chance to coach gap year hockey to disadvantaged hockey players while meeting other likeminded gap year volunteers.