Mohali, May 6: Roundglass Punjab Hockey Academy (RGPHA) has announced the inaugural edition of the Punjab Hockey League (PHL) for the junior age group, beginning next month. The league, which will be organized by Roundglass in association with Hockey Punjab, aims to provide match exposure to players from the grassroots level and contribute towards their professional and personal development.
Six academy teams from the state will participate in the league, which will be played in a home-and-away format.
Speaking on the development, Mr. Sunny Singh, Founder, Roundglass said, “Roundglass Hockey is on a mission to rebuild India’s passion for field hockey and organizing the Punjab Hockey League for juniors will take us closer to our goal. It marks an important milestone in promoting hockey at the grassroots level in the state and uplifting the level of young hockey players by exposing them to more competitive games. I wish all the players luck and may the best team win!”
The participating teams are: Roundglass Punjab Hockey Academy, Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, S.G.P.C Hockey Academy, Amritsar, Namdhari Hockey Academy, Jeevan Nagar, PIS Hockey Academy, Mohali and Chandigarh Hockey Academy. Each team will have a pool of 25 players.
Sharing his thoughts on the Punjab Hockey League, Dronacharya award winner, Olympic Gold medalist and Assistant Technical Director of RGPHA, Rajinder Singh, said, “Exposure to competitive matches is very important for the development of youth players and the Junior Punjab Hockey League will provide that for the participants. The league format will help coaches to experiment with different strategies as each team is assured of playing 10 matches each. We hope this league will be a landmark event in our efforts to promote hockey at the grassroots level in Punjab.”
The unveiling of the trophy will be held during the last week of May in Jalandhar in the presence of Olympians, former hockey players and members of Hockey Punjab.
