March 13 to 23, India’s Senior Women National Championship was held in Pune / Pimpri-Chinchwad. Hosted by Hockey Maharashtra, the teams of 27 states played for the title. A unique opportunity to expose the players from our Grassroots Hockey Program in Pune to top hockey and to the excitement of an official tournament. On to the stadium!
Winning their poule, team Maharashtra progressed to the next round. Together with coaches and around 100 female players from our Pune hockey program we attended the quarter finals in the stadium. The stadium where we had our hockey festival in January. So special to now see India’s best players in an official tournament on the same astro. The girls’ enthusiasm did not stay unnoticed. They got to meet some of the players of India’s national team too. What an experience, and the win by Maharashtra completed the day.
Such a success, we had to come again. Team Maharashtra also won the semi-finals, so let’s join them on finals day, now also with the boys. Saturday 23 March, over 200 kids from four schools came together. What an atmosphere and what a thrilling match. The kids were chanting, there was drums and dancing. The kids cheered as much as they could to help Maharashtra to victory. After 1-0 against them, Maharashtra did come back to a draw but shootouts led to gold for team Haryana. Congratulations to Maharashtra for the second place.
Thank you Hockey Maharashtra for a great tournament. And thanks to our program partner NIRMAN for making these trips possible. What an event to remember!
