What keeps causing the sorry state of minnows?

The return of the Premier Division Hockey League, especially after a 27-month hiatus, might have provided some relief to the players and the officials, but the gulf of difference between the minnows and giants this season has raised eyebrows, while exposing the overall state of how the clubs are generally being run. 

It is worth mentioning that minnows suffering big-margin defeats in the top-flight hockey league is far from being unheard of as it keeps occurring every edition.

Clubs such as Dilkusha Sporting Club received four big-margin defeats, while Victoria SC (four), Azad SC (three), and Shadhara Bima (one) suffered thumping losses against teams like Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club, Abahani, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Usha KC, and Bangladesh Police SC in the first leg matches of the league, which will resume today with the Super Six phase.

Apart from the difference between the quality of players, what has created the disparity is because clubs have failed to provide the most basic needs to the players.

According to the club coaches, players and club officials, several factors are behind the humiliating defeats: long-time absence of the league, lack of quality players, lack of preparation, ignorance of the latest game rules, base salary of players of the smaller clubs, and improper food among others.

An anecdote shared by Abdullah Piru, Azad Sporting Club coach and former national player, aptly reflects why the minnows continue to struggle.

"A player once complained of finger pain on his foot after wearing smaller size keds (an American brand of canvas shoe with rubber soles) borrowed from a teammate to play league games. I asked him about his own keds, and he said he hadn't been paid by the club yet, so he couldn't buy a pair of match keds," Piru had said in the middle of the first leg of Dhaka Premier Division Hockey League.

Piru told The Daily Star: "Most small clubs initially did not want to take part in the league, citing financial crisis, but they finally took part in the league after forming their respective squads at the eleventh hour. Still, they struggled to clear the payments to the players; some players even had to leave their respective clubs in the middle of the league due to payment disagreements. So, many junior players played the league but could not cope up with the experienced players."

Bangladesh Sporting Club player Taposh Barman, also a former national player, said that "we have coaches only on paper" and added that previously there was a little gap between big and small teams since some quality players from the district level had joined the small teams, but the current crop from district level are not as good as their predecessors.

As far as coaches, players, and officials are concerned, the continuation of the Premier Division Hockey League and holding the district hockey leagues must be ensured first, in order to narrow the gap between strong and weak players and, thereby raising the overall players' standard.