Domestic hockey season to commence in October

The much-awaited domestic season in Indian hockey is all set to resume in October 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic halted the national calendar.

The Indian hockey domestic season will recommence with the first Hockey India Sub-junior Men's National Championship which will be held from October 4 to October 13. The sub-junior national championship will be followed by the Junior National Championship from October 18 to October 27. Both these tournaments will be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

These national championships will be followed by the 1st Hockey India Junior Women's Inter-department National Championship scheduled to be held in October in New Delhi.

October 2021 continues to be a packed domestic hockey calendar with the 11th Hockey India Junior Women's National Championship 2021 scheduled to be held in Simdega, Jharkhand. The 11th Hockey India Junior Men's National Championship 2021 is being scheduled for the month of October in Telangana.

For the development & promotion of Hockey in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, here's a look at the latest status of the Astro Turf at the KK Hakku Stadium, Jammu.🏑#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/D3sEiHS4lR

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 29, 2021

The 11th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship 2021 is provisionally scheduled to be held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh in the month of October.

Domestic hockey tournaments to follow COVID-19 guidelines

Keeping in mind the safety of players and officials, the hockey federation has instructed the host State Member Units and participating teams to take strict precautions. They want to ensure that they enforce all COVID-19 prevention protocols established by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and respective state governments, as well as Hockey India's robust guidelines to host domestic events.

Expressing excitement over the resumption of the Hockey India National Championships, President Gyanendro Ningombam, in a statement, said:

"There is a lot of euphoria following the success of the Indian men's and women's hockey teams at the Tokyo Olympics and we wanted to ensure this excitement translates into the playing field. With this intent, we are announcing the resumption of the Hockey India domestic calendar. We had to halt abruptly in March this year due to the rise in cases across the country but with things looking up on the coronavirus front, we felt it is safe to resume under COVID-19 prevention guidelines."