(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The St Joseph's Indian High School on Vittal Mallya Road in the southern Indian city of Bangalore - which has been supported by the Sports of Authority of India (SAI) since the 1970s - has been one of the top schools that has churned out many national hockey players over the past few decades.
Last week, three alumni of that school flicked, tackled and struck for a club far away from home.
Making their debut for Ahli-Sidab Club in the 2013-2014 His Majesty's Cup Hockey Championship in Muscat, the trio of Deepak Thimanna, Vikas Muddappa and Pradhan Somanna, all hailing from Coorg in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, were playing for a foreign club for the first time.
All three have similar storylines as to how they took to hockey, starting off with playing with the neighbourhood kids at the local ground in their native place.
Once the interest turned into passion, they steadily converted their love for the sport into a profession.
Shuttling to and fro between Coorg and Bangalore, all three began routinely attending the SAI centre in Bangalore, from where on they went on to represent various clubs and state teams, and feature in national tournaments.
Somanna played for India in the Asian Champions Trophy in 2012; Muddappa had also been part of the Indian team camp.
All three believe that the game is a little more physical in Oman than what they are used to in India and they understand that as much as they learn by themselves playing against local teams in the sultanate, they can also impart knowledge acquired over their stints back home.
Al Nasr's Pakistan duo packs a punch:
The Oman Hockey Association (OHA) allows up to three foreign players in the local clubs, and Ahli-Sidab's Indian players aren't the only imports in the circuit, there are several more.
Al Nasr has two Pakistani players in its roster this season - Tauseef Ahmed and Muhammed Mudassar. They, too, started playing hockey while in school and college, and gradually made the transition to the club and national levels.
Mudassar started featuring in the Pakistan national camps in 2001 and debuted for the national side in 2006. He went on to play for Pakistan in the Asia Cup, Asian Games and South Asian Games among many other tournaments.
National duty apart, he played two seasons in the German league with Rheydter Spielverein Club, two seasons in the Bangladesh league with Abahani Limited Club and two seasons in the Malaysian league for Yayasan Negeri Sembilan.
''This is my first year in Oman and I didn't expect the competition to be so tough. The local talent has definitely surprised me,'' says Mudassar.
''The only difficulty playing in foreign countries is adjusting to the style of play and understanding the local language.''
Ahmed Ezz Mohammed, skipper of the Egypt national team, also plays for Al Nasr and has turned up for an Omani side five times, beginning in 2006. He started off with Al Ittihad and his next four stints were with Al Nasr. He, too, currently plays for Polisportive Ferrini and had also a stint with an English club.
Ezz Mohammed told Muscat Daily, ''In Asia, only a few countries, like South Korea, India, Japan and China have the appropriate facilities to conduct hockey tournaments. Oman still has a lot of way to go to reach that level.'' Asked why he chose to play for an Omani club, he said, ''It's because Oman is very close to Egypt and we speak the same language.''
Seeb Club has recruited players with specific skills to fill the void of local talent. Olympian Kashif Ali from Pakistan is an expert flicker while Bangladesh's Rashel 'Jimmy' Mahmud and Rana Zaman play as midfielder and centre-forward, respectively.
Mahmud was adjudged the best midfielder at this year's World Hockey League.
Prior to the start of the final round of the HM's Cup, Seeb had utilised the services of two Pakistani internationals – Shakeel Abbasi and Shafqat Rasool.
Abbasi has captained the national team and was part of 2012 Asian Champions Trophy gold medal winning team with Rasool. The duo were also part of the 2010 Asian Games gold medal winning side.
Abdurrehman al Balushi, Sohar Club's coach, also is of the opinion that domestic clubs should be careful when choosing its foreign recruits, introducing skill-specific players, so that it helps the club while the local players get to learn from them. His team currently has three Egyptians - Amr Lousa, Hassam Jubren and Waleed Mutwali.
Egyptian trio in action for Dhofar:
Dhofar Club boasts of three Egyptian players - Hisham Hamed, Valeed Mohammed and Mohammed Idris. They bring along with them a vast repertoire of experience.
Hamed has been playing professional hockey for 20 years, representing clubs like Suez Canal, Police Club and Sun Club in Egypt. Besides, he has been with the Egyptian national team since 1999.
He has also served as the assistant coach for the junior Egyptian team.
Hamed's teammates, Valeed and Idris both played for Polisportiva Ferrini Club in Italy over the last summer.
They have also played for other Omani clubs, like Seeb, Al Ittihad and Al Nasr, in the past.
Poonacha backs foreign players:
Explaining the need for foreign recruits in local clubs in Oman, Ahli-Sidab coach K K Poonacha said, ''The local hockey players here generally play a straightforward game. But the sport has changed over the past decade. It has become tougher and faster. So if the local players just play among themselves, they won't be able to adapt to the changes."
''I believe the OHA should allow more foreign players to play here in order to make the game more interesting and also to give its players exposure to the latest techniques.''
All the other clubs don't agree with that opinion though. Smaller ones like Salalah Club believe they should find talent among themselves. Its coach, Ahmed Sadiq, said, ''We are not like the big clubs. The local players should get more chances to play in more tournaments. And then after they get appropriate experience, maybe we can then recruit foreign players.''
Al Nasr to face Ahli-sidab in HM's Cup final
Al Nasr Club edged out defending champion Ahli-Sidab Club 3-2 in the HM's Cup Hockey Championship at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Saturday to reach the final.
The two teams will meet again in the final on Wednesday. Ahli-Sidab had earlier qualified for the final on Friday.
In the third-place playoff, scheduled to be played on Monday, Seeb will take on either Sohar or Dhofar.
Other results:
Saturday:
Seeb 2 Sohar 1; Friday: Al Nasr 13 Salalah 0, Ahli-Sidab 2 Sohar 0, Seeb 3 Dhofar 2; Wednesday: Sohar 2