it’s a great initiative: Former Indian Hockey Heroes laud India’s player-oriented engagement platform ‘Heroes Connect’

In order to create a detailed database of members of the Indian men’s and women’s hockey team, Hockey India launched its own player-oriented platform “Heroes Connect” on July 16 (Friday). This unique web-based adaptive platform was developed to encourage former and current Indian international hockey players to initiate constructive discussions on this sport.

All the former/ current hockey players who have played for India can register their profiles on the platform verified by Hockey India. These profiles consist of general details of a player, matches played for the Indian team, duration of career, tournaments played, year of retirement, memorable moments in the career, Awards won, social media profile and photographs of the player.

‘Heroes Connect’ has been designed to encourage players who represented India at the FIH sanctioned events/ Olympics/ Commonwealth Games/ Asian Games to create/ initiate constructive discussions on the platform. Discussions and content would be allowed only based on the Terms & Conditions policy of the platform and will be also regulated by Hockey India.

Having registered on Heroes Connect, former Olympian from India inside-forward Sabu Varkey expressed that the Heroes Connect platform is a beautiful initiative, which will help him connect with his former teammates.

“It’s a beautiful initiative. I am not in touch with many of the players I have played along with, so this is a very good platform, where I can get their contact numbers and connect back with them and speak to them. Recently, I was searching for the contact details of my teammates, and luckily, Hockey India just launched it, so I feel this will help me get in touch with my former teammates, ” expressed Sabu, who was part of the Atlanta 1996 Olympics squad.

Meanwhile, former India Women’s defender Deepika, who was a part of the Rio 2016 Olympics women’s team, said that the Heroes Connect platform will build a strong hockey community.

“I think it’s a great initiative by Hockey India to keep everyone in the hockey fraternity connected with each other. Never imagined players will have their own engagement platform. Heroes Connect platform will build a strong hockey community, and I am happy to be a part of it,” she stated.

Former India Women’s goalkeeper Helen Mary also lauded Hockey India’s unique initiative.

“I think, it’s laudable the way Hockey India has been acknowledging the past players, be it interactions, social media posts, and now this platform (Heroes Connect). It’s really good to see that Indian Hockey players will have their own platform, wherein we can communicate with each other. It’s a great initiative, and a great opportunity for the former and current India players to connect with each other,” said Helen