Last Update: January 13, 2023, 09:10 IST
Wales squad training ahead of FIH World Cup opener (Hockey Wales Twitter)
From raising money through crowdfunding to traveling to India to paying players out of pocket, the Wales team has seen it all
Others get paid to represent their country, but a bunch of these mavericks get paid to play for the flag.
The passion to play hockey despite overwhelming odds, it seems, is the tonic for the players in Wales, which keeps the enthusiasm bubbling.
With negligible crowd support – the country’s largest stadium can accommodate 200 spectators – and players having to pay £1,000 a year to play for the national team, only a band of hardcore athletes managed to overcome the difficulties. Could manage and still sport broad smiles on their faces.
Wales, who are making their FIH Men’s World At the start of the cup, there will be a pleasant surprise – or, perhaps, a strange one – when they see packed stadiums in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
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their journey India Probably not even business-class as the team had to resort to crowd-funding to raise £25,000 to cover flights, accommodation and meals in the two host cities.
“Crowd-funding is part of the means of reducing costs to the players. The players also contribute; each player pays £1,000 a year to play for Wales,” said head coach Daniel Newcombe after his side’s match against England. said before the opening match.
India and Spain will face other teams in Group D.
“Hockey is a small game and our national stadium can hold around 200 people, which is very different from here (Birsa Munda Stadium with 21,000 capacity).
“Our funding from the government is limited and hence the players also contribute. But because of our recent successes in qualifying for the big tournaments, we have got more tours and our government has been really supportive. We’ve now got a shirt sponsor and that has reduced the cost (on the players),” Newcombe said.
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Wales had qualified for the showpiece through a European qualifying event in their home country’s capital, Cardiff.
Newcombe is proud to say his team has made it to the showpiece event three years after finishing at the bottom of world hockey.
“We need public exposure and sponsors to grow. But we have moved from 36th in the FIH rankings to 15th (in the FIH rankings) in the third year of European hockey and now the World Cup. We are not done yet.”
Captain Rupert Shipperle said he gets frustrated at times with the state of hockey in the country.
“It is frustrating at times…the situation. The 30-year-old midfielder said on Thursday that there has been improvement over the years, but not yet at the level it should be.
Read also: FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023: Full schedule and match list
Shipperley is one of two players who played for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics but are now wearing the Wales jersey.
Jacob Draper is the other person to have played for GBR in Tokyo.
So, will there be divided loyalties?
“There’s no room for friendship yet,” said coach Newcombe, adding Shipperley will square off against his GBR team-mates on Friday.
Newcombe said, “We may not be a household name in India, but we have to prove that we are not here to make numbers.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)