K. Arumugam (born 20 June 1958) is an Indian hockey journalist,[1] author,[2] columnist[3] and hockey historian based in New Delhi. He has written over a dozen hockey books[4] and runs an Indian hockey website, stick2hockey.com.[5] He is also the founder of Hockey Citizens Group, a NGO, which runs projects to promote and spread hockey in India through projects like One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL).[6] OTHL aims to train 500 students from schools and underprivileged backgrounds every year.[7]
Early life and background edit
Arumugam hails from Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling at the Government High School in Thirumarugal, near Nagapatanam, Tamil Nadu. Then, he studied at Presidency College, Chennai and completed his graduation from IIT, Bombay (now Mumbai).[8] A qualified geologist, he later moved to Delhi to work as a water scientist. But he quit his Central Government job to focus full time on his hockey work.[7]
Projects edit
One of the main projects, One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL), was formally started in 2008.[9] The project work in schools actually started at the turn of the century and aims to train 500 students below 15 years, from select schools, to make 1000 hockey legs.[10] OTHL selects schools and enters into a partnership, provides coaches and equipment and the school has to provide a space and time to develop a hockey team.[11] Starting with Delhi, the OTHL schools were started in Kolkata, Chennai, Kanpur and Puducherry.[7] In Delhi, OTHL runs in 18 government schools. Overall it trains over 4000 students in 90 schools across five cities.[9] The cost of about Rs.12 lakhs a year is spent by Arumugam on his own, with part of the support coming from donations from friends, and the proceeds from his hockey books.
Award edit
He was awarded Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar by President Pranab Mukherjee on 29 August 2016, the Indian Sports Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan.[12] He was also awarded the Hockey India President's Outstanding Achievement Award for the years 2015 and 2016.[10]
Dhyan Chand chapter in text books edit
Arumugam's article titled The Wizard was taken from one of his books, The Great Indian Olympians[13][14] and was included in the Class XI English text books by NCERT (2002-2003).[5][15]
References edit
- ^ "Game for more". The Indian Express. 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ "September 2006 Bulletin". www.bharatiyahockey.org. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ "Hockey World Cup 2018, K Arumugam column: Harendra Singh's India up against history in Bhubaneswar-Sports News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ archive, our online (2012-05-16). "Finally, a book on TN hockey heroes". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ a b "September 2002 Bulletin". www.bharatiyahockey.org. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ "An IIT-an who had a dream for Indian hockey". The Times of India. 2016-08-10. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b c "This man quit being scientist to nurture hockey dreams". Hindustan Times. 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ "Editor". Stick2Hockey. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ a b Ghoshal, Shuvro (2016-01-14). "Interview with K. Arumugam, the man who quit his high-paying job to teach hockey to underprivileged kids". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ a b Antony, Judith Mariya (2022-05-05). "Man with a plan: Nurturing young hockey dreams". The Patriot. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ Bhogal, Jimmy (2010-06-28). "One Thousand Hockey Legs". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ ANI (2022-01-04). "Disqualification in Beijing Olympics 2008 led to birth of One Thousand Hockey Legs". www.ANInews.in. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "BOOK REVIEW/ AWARDS, ACCOLADES AND DEDICATION". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ "17 medals, 1 billion people". Hindustan Times. 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
- ^ Our Sports Reporter (2002-08-28). "Chapter on Dhyan Chand figures in textbook". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2024-01-22.