NEW DELHI: Often called the poor man's game, Indian hockey has come of age both on and off the field after the eye-opening Olympic miss in 2008. Though securing a job before thinking about an extended professional career in the sport still tops the priority list of budding players -- majority of who come from humble backgrounds, rewards for big wins like an Olympic medal or title triumphs have grown substantially.
To cite a quick example before looking at the bigger picture, after Hockey India announced a prize money of Rs 15 lakh to each player for the bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics, Madhya Pradesh set the tone for the state governments with a Rs 1 crore reward for the midfielder from Itarsi, Vivek Sagar Prasad, also a Deputy Superintendent of Police in MP.
