Chennai, Jan 17: Shanmugapriya, custodian of Tamil Nadu’s girls’ hockey team for the Khelo India Youth Games 2023, is a fan of India’s goalkeeper P R Sreejesh. The 18-year-old spends a considerable amount of her time watching the former India captain in action on YouTube and hopes to meet him one day.
In fact, the youngster from Sivaganga district of the state has the media platform to thank for her early lessons in hockey.
Shanmugapriya, who lost her father just over a month ago, got hooked to the sport after watching a competition at the Alagappa Model Government School in Karaikudi in 2018 and was desperate to learn how to play.
But there was no coach to teach her the basics and hence her brother Shanmuganathan introduced her to videos on YouTube to understand how the game was played.
Determined to play the sport, Shanmugapriya would watch the videos and then practice the same in a small corner outside her house with her brother.
Her efforts bore fruit when her school’s Physical Education teacher saw her play hockey in the premises and recommended her to Madurai district coaches, who soon picked her for the district team as a goalkeeper.
However, Shanmugapriya’s problems were far from over. With her mother being the sole bread earner of the family, a hockey goalkeeper’s kit worth Rs 35,000 was out of her reach.
“Initially, I would borrow someone else’s kit to practice and play matches. Then I started doing some part-time work to raise money for my own kit but despite saving some money I was still falling short of Rs 15000,” she says.
Hearing about her plight, Shanmugapriya’s neighbours and well-wishers then came forward to raise the money required for her to buy the kit, which she uses even today.
The 18-year-old, who has also represented the state in the School Games hockey Nationals, knows that the Khelo India Youth Games is now an ideal platform for her to showcase her skills against the best in the country in her age group.
This is only the second time that Tamil Nadu girls team will be participating in the Khelo India Youth Games and Shanmugapriya’s role under the bar could be crucial in helping the team clear the group stage this time around.
And the first year Computer Science student of SRM College is confident that the team would be punching above its weight in front of their local supporters.
“This is an unique opportunity for many girls who can get inspired seeing us play,” she says.
