Ending 30 hours of crisis-like situation 28 disgruntled senior women hockey trainees of Sundargarh district, who en masse had fled from the state government-run Bhubaneswar sports hostel yesterday with multiple complains, finally set off for Bhubaneswar after much persuasion.

As they relented the girls were immediately taken to the Rourkela-based Panposh Sports Hostel (PSH), the cradle of hockey where majority of them were earlier staying. PSH coach-in-charge AN Bihari said escorted by two PSH coaches they were sent to Bhubaneswar this evening in a special bus.

Apparently, the Sundargarh district administration heaved a sigh of relief as the ugly episode drew flak for the Odisha government and functioning of the Sports Department. In fact, early this morning instead of boarding the Inter-City Express for Bhubaneswar they fled from the station and took shelter at the Hanuman Vatika complex. No sooner the news spread coaches of PSH, some relatives of the girls, local administrative officials and police reached the spot.

Shrouded by local media-persons the girls reiterated their desire to stay at PSH, but authorities expressed helplessness. Months ago the sports department had ‘clandestinely’ scrapped PSH’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) scheme for senior girls and boys.

Both senior girls and boys were given impression of attending training camps at Bhubanesawar, but under a new scheme they were permanently adjusted at the Bhubaneswar hostels from May. They said at Bhubaneswar they were treated like ‘prisoners’. Unlike the PSH where they get adequate opportunities for match practices the same was not possible there and seriously affecting their performances.

The girls also claimed of receiving aspersions for their poor tribal backgrounds and were haunted by many problems including delayed serving of food after rigorous practice. Also, as most of them study
at different colleges in Sundargarh under Sambalpur University they fear for academic loss if they get registered to other universities with different course curriculum. A teenager girl said after she got her front tooth uprooted during practice she had to rush to hospital at her own expenditure despite being poor.

Sundargarh district collector Bhupendra Singh Poonia said their grievances would be placed before concerned authorities for consideration. Retired founder coach of the PSH Sylvestor Toppo suggested restoring the CoE scheme at PSH in larger interest of the game and enabling the senior girls and boys to hone their talents in a familiar and competitive environment. Reliable sources said the senior boys of Sundargarh now staying at Bhubaneswar also nurse similar sentiment.
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PHOTO: Disgruntled women hockey trainees expressing their grievances in Rourkela on Sept 14, 2014.