Kolhapur: Hockey forward Sanika Mane brought glory to Nool, her village in Kolhapur, on Thursday when she was selected to represent India in the junior women’s team for AHF Junior Asia Cup in Moqi, China from Aug 30 to Sept 13.Sanika told TOI, “I have been selected along with five other forwards in a squad of 18. My consistency in practice and the coaching I got helped me. I want to make my country and my parents proud in this tournament.”She has come this far the hard way. Her dusty village in Gadhinglaj taluka often hosts victory parades for hockey teams and players who shine at the state and national levels. The players here lack facilities, but they make up for it through passion, hard work and determination. Over a dozen from Nool have created their own identities in the sport.Sanika, 20, a former Maharashtra team captain is the most notable among them. Earlier, she made it to India U-21 team for the UK tour last month. The stint gave her insights, which she put to use in Bengaluru where she attended the camp to select the Indian team for the Asia Cup.Nool’s moment in the sun comes after years of waiting and producing top players since pre-Independence. “Sanika made our dreams come true,” Manohar Mangale, hockey sports teacher at New English School in Nool, said.Her father Chandrakant grows rice and sugar cane on his half-acre plot. But she inherited her sporting legacy from her mother Jyoti, a former national hockey player who now teaches English in the primary class. “I always believed Sanika was special. Watching her wear the India jersey is the proudest moment of my life,” she said.Sanika’s elder sister Krishna, who also played at the national level, was her inspiration. “Sanika was exceptional right from her formative years in the village school. She was good in athletics but she chose hockey,” Krishna said.Khelo India’s tactical and technical coach Aniket More, who spotted Sanika, said her instincts were apparent when he first saw her play. “She was sharp, fearless and always hungry to learn,” he added. More’s early coaching laid the foundation for Sanika and Sports Authority of India polished her skills.Nool’s tryst with hockey started with New English School’s physical education teacher Shashikant Jadhav. The village favoured wrestling, kabaddi, and mallakhamb. In 1976, Jadhav introduced hockey to the school, changing the village’s sporting trajectory forever.Despite initial constraints with the grounds and gear, students embraced the sport and eventually dominated state-level school tournaments.“Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament is the most prestigious school-level competition. Our school has earned the honour of representing the state at this national event several times. The boys’ team qualified in 1984 and the U-17 girls’ team followed in their footsteps, making a historic mark in New Delhi in both 2003 and 2011,” said Mangale. In the 2023 edition of the tournament, Sanika scored eight goals, including two hat-tricks.Many Nool families, like the Manes, have followed hockey for at least two generations. All are from farming, daily-wage workers, and small shop owners’ families.The village has consistently churned out good talent. Notable among them are Vilas Taral, Amit Chavan, Archana Kulkarni, Talifa Shirajbhai, Savita Goilkar, Shilpa Shah, Anjali Jadhav, Deepa Jadhav, Jyoti Futane, Ashwini Chavan, Snehal Lagali and Preeti Mane who made it to the state teams over the years.The children here train in the mud. The outstanding ones join SAI’s Mumbai facility to hone skills on the artificial turf. “We are waiting for Major Dhyanchand Stadium in Kolhapur city to get such a turf so that we can train on weekdays,” Mangale said.Some Nool players have landed govt jobs through the sports quota. “The national-level participation gives them a good chance to land a govt job,” an ex-hockey player, who is now in the state police force, said.
