Hockey in Delhi

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Training facilities

Union Academy Senior Secondary School in Raja Bazar

As in 2021

Sidhartha Roy, August 10, 2021: The Times of India

Located in the Raja Bazar area close to Connaught Place, the Union Academy school has a long hockey legacy and has produced many national and international hockey players
From: Sidhartha Roy, August 10, 2021: The Times of India

On a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon, the nearly 82-year-old school building tucked in the heart of New Delhi looks even more colourwashed. What stands out, however, is a bright blue banner congratulating its former student for winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The super alumnus is Sumit Kumar, midfielder in the Indian men’s hockey team that bagged the bronze at the Oi stadium on August 5. Who would have thought that an Olympic winner would start the victory run from an unheralded institution, the Union Academy Senior Secondary School in Raja Bazar, near Connaught Place, a run that would include winning the Junior World Cup in 2016 and an Olympic medal five years later?

“Sumit has brought laurels to the school and above all for the country,” exulted school principal Manju Majumder. “Hockey is in the DNA of our school. As principal for 18 years, I can say with pride that the boys are equally effective in wielding the pen and the hockey stick.”

Founded in 1934 in Shimla, the school moved to its present building in New Delhi in 1939. Its hockey legacy goes back many decades. The school team has won the All India Mohan Singh Hockey Tournament four times and the All India Nehru, SS Mota Singh, Aboo and the Cambridge hockey tournaments three times each, apart from other competitions. It considers the nearby Shiva ji Stadium as its home ground. Kumar is the latest of several star alumni, including former India captain Vineet Kumar, former India coach Harendra Singh, Olympian Gagan Ajit Singh, former India player Manjeet Kullu, goalkeeper Sandeep Shokeen and many other national-level players.

“The school has an atmosphere that is conducive for hockey. Our team, coached by Rajinder Singh (former India hockey coach), was the best in Delhi,” recalled Arjuna Awardee Gagan Ajit Singh. “The school was known for hockey when I moved to Delhi in the mid-1990s. It strikes a perfect balance between education and sports. The fact that the Shiva ji Stadium is next door is a big bonus.”

Mahesh Dayal, general secretary, Delhi Hockey Association, and a Union Academy alumnus, chuckled that students often bunked classes to watch a hockey match at the stadium. “The school usually provides most of the members of the Delhi hockey team,” Dayal said. He thanked “guru Hawa Singh Sir” for this. Septuagenarian Hawa Singh Bhardwaj, the physical education teacher, is hailed by students and teachers as the person who moulded champions from the school’s student body.

Bhardwaj has known Kumar from the time he was just a boy. “At least 20 students have played for the national team. I remember Sumit from the time he was admitted in Class V,” the former national-level wrestler said. “I would reach the school by 8am and sprinkle the field with water before the students arrived. I left for home after 8pm following evening practice.” He had a spare bed in school for days when he was too late to return home to Nangal Thakran village.

Accumulation of rainwater on the field was a problem that Bhardwaj fixed permanently with an opportunistic request when the underground Palika Bazar was being built in the late1970s. “I requested New Delhi Municipal Council to give us the dug-up soil,” smiled Bhardwaj. “Truckloads arrived with earth to raise the height of our playfield.”

Ever a coach, Bhardwaj has some tips for aspiring players. “A good hockey player needs not only good stamina, but also a strong heart and sharp intellect. I looked for these in budding players and trained them with passion,” he said.

Tapan Roy, alumnus and chairman of the school’s governing body, fondly reminisced, “When I studied in the ’60s, the school emphasised educational excellence as much as extra-curricular activities. Everyone played football or hockey or joined the scouts and NCC.” He added, “Sumit Kumar’s achievement will motivate more students to aspire to excellence.”