BY DEVIKA C.MEHTA
LOS ANGELES, CA - Hockey is the national sport of India, but there are many Indians who are popularizing the sport in US too. Two players from Southern California, this year, secured good positions in the nationals. Sunil DeSouza and Manmohan Singh, were both recently notified by the USA Field Hockey Association of their...
LOS ANGELES, CA - Hockey is the national sport of India, but there are many Indians who are popularizing the sport in US too. Two players from Southern California, this year, secured good positions in the nationals. Sunil DeSouza and Manmohan Singh, were both recently notified by the USA Field Hockey Association of their...
selection to represent the USA Men’s Field Hockey team at the Masters (over-50 years and over 60 years respectively) World Cup to be held in Barcelona, Spain from July 27 to Aug 5.
DeSouza is an Indian- American hockey player living in Lake Forest, while Singh resides in Aliso Viejo. Talking to India Journal, both shared their ideas and spoke at length about their journey, struggles, upcoming world cup and dreaming big in life. Reminiscing, DeSouza said “I grew up in Bombay in a strong hockey playing community and it was natural for me to start playing the game. Things got serious when I was chosen to play in the Jr. National tournament and from that point onwards the dream was to play for the country. After being selected to play professionally for Bharat Petroleum, I got to play in all the major tournaments in India and while that gave me an opportunity to drastically improve my skills it was not enough to make the cut for the country. After having put in my sincere effort, I accepted this fact honestly and with great sadness I decided to shelf my goal and embarked on my next step in life to pursue an advanced education in America.”
Singh’s journey was no different; he started playing hockey at an early age following his brothers who played for the same schools. “After representing my school and college in Punjab, I migrated to the US and joined the LA Tigers field hockey club where I played at a super level against Southall England, Mexico and Taiwan national teams,” he explained.
Talking about his hockey experience in the US, DeSouza elaborated, “I was excited to find an opportunity to play hockey again in the US. After years of practice, I participated in the popular annual nationwide tournament called “California Cup” held at Moorpark. I was very fortunate to also find an opportunity to coach the Fountain Valley High School girls hockey team from 1996-2001 which was truly very rewarding to me.” Singh too felt elated sharing about his role, “I moved to Orange County in 1997 and joined HB surfers club where I am an active member today.
DeSouza is an Indian- American hockey player living in Lake Forest, while Singh resides in Aliso Viejo. Talking to India Journal, both shared their ideas and spoke at length about their journey, struggles, upcoming world cup and dreaming big in life. Reminiscing, DeSouza said “I grew up in Bombay in a strong hockey playing community and it was natural for me to start playing the game. Things got serious when I was chosen to play in the Jr. National tournament and from that point onwards the dream was to play for the country. After being selected to play professionally for Bharat Petroleum, I got to play in all the major tournaments in India and while that gave me an opportunity to drastically improve my skills it was not enough to make the cut for the country. After having put in my sincere effort, I accepted this fact honestly and with great sadness I decided to shelf my goal and embarked on my next step in life to pursue an advanced education in America.”
Singh’s journey was no different; he started playing hockey at an early age following his brothers who played for the same schools. “After representing my school and college in Punjab, I migrated to the US and joined the LA Tigers field hockey club where I played at a super level against Southall England, Mexico and Taiwan national teams,” he explained.
Talking about his hockey experience in the US, DeSouza elaborated, “I was excited to find an opportunity to play hockey again in the US. After years of practice, I participated in the popular annual nationwide tournament called “California Cup” held at Moorpark. I was very fortunate to also find an opportunity to coach the Fountain Valley High School girls hockey team from 1996-2001 which was truly very rewarding to me.” Singh too felt elated sharing about his role, “I moved to Orange County in 1997 and joined HB surfers club where I am an active member today.
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