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Savage talk The blame for hockey being a winter


TalkHockeyRadio’s Peter Savage wonders why we are all out in the cold in the depth of winter


has hit the hockey programme, and many experts are predicting that we may have to get used to it. Perverse though it seems, global warming is actually likely to bring colder winters to the UK. But, has anyone stopped to consider why we play hockey at the coldest time of the year in the first place? Surely, if we played in the summer, we could all enjoy balmier weather, which would have the added benefit of acclimatising our performance players to hotter climes than an English winter.


i .


t’s easy to forget that only a few weeks ago we had been shivering in some of the coldest weather on record. This is the second year in succession that snow


sport lays firmly with our cricketing friends. As any fool will tell you, our modern game began when cricketers started playing hockey on the outfield to give themselves something to do in the winter months, and the link between the two sports has remained strong ever since. Indeed, when I first started playing hockey, my club’s first Xl was virtually the cricket first Xl in blue shorts. One of the problems resulting from this relationship was that the cricketers, as the senior partners, always had first dibs on the facilities. Come the cricket season, hockey had to stop and could not resume again until their season had finished. Fish out one of your dad’s old fixture cards and you would be surprised to see how short the season used to be. But the arrival of artificial pitches means there is no longer competition for the outfield, so it would be quite feasible to shift hockey to any time of the year we choose. So why don’t we do it? There have been a number of


advocates for change over the years


but, as is evidently the case, change has not taken place. But am I in favour of the move? Well, I spend an awful lot of the season shivering beside hockey pitches around the country and believe me, gripping onto a freezing-cold camera is akin to a medieval trial by ordeal. But it does have its plus sides. Rather like banging your head against a brick wall, sometimes the best bit is when you stop, and the hockey equivalent is leaving the pitch and entering a warm and hospitable club house. Perhaps I’ve just got used to it, but


do you know – I wouldn’t change it one little bit. To me hockey is one of the few bright things about a cold English winter. I think those Victorians who first took to playing on the outfield with a crooked stick and a white painted cricket ball knew a thing or two. And they didn’t even have to worry about escaping Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday evening. Summers are for lazing in the garden and days out with friends and family. If you really are looking for something to do, you could always take up cricket!


father and daughter on awards list


This year’s British Asian Sports Awards will be a big night out for one family with father and daughter both on the guest list. England U16 international hockey player Ashpal Kaur Bhogal has been shortlisted in the young sports personality of the year (female, under 18) category while her father Bobby is in contention for coach of the year. Ashpal, from Leeds, made


history in 2010, when she took to the international field and became the first female player of South Asian descent to represent England at any level of hockey. As well as coaching Ashpal,


Bobby is Leeds Met Carnegie hockey coach, a regional performance coach and is himself an England Masters (over 40s) player. The awards ceremony will be


Bobby and Ashpal Bhogal


held at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on March 5.


News and views from on and off the pitch The finalists were selected by a


judging panel, including former England cricketer Mark Ramprakash, Olympic gold medallist, Denise Lewis (OBE), Lorraine Deschamps of Sporting Equals, sports journalist Mihir Bose, BBC Football League Show presenter Manish Bhasin and executive vice-president for Sony Entertainment Network, Neeraj Arora.


There will be a public vote – see


www.basauk.tv for details. The event is organised by Sony


Entertainment Television Asia and will be broadcast internationally on the channel.


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