By Paritosh Pramanik

IT WAS a warm Monday afternoon and the sun was beating down hard on the lush green Vidarbha Hockey Association turf. Around 50 players from around India were warming up for the selection trials conducted by Accountant General (AG) office but the centre of attraction was at the far end, in the gallery. This German lady in her mid-30s was keenly watching the proceedings on the field. A foreign visitor at VHA was definitely a matter of curiosity. ‘The Hitavada’ find out the German connection in Indian hockey.
Andrea Thumshrin, ‘the foreigner’, is actually helping India in building a pool of hockey talent. The former Grade One German League hockey player had an astonishing tale to share with this newspaper. She sold her flat in Berlin to settle in India and start a hockey academy—Hockey Village India Foundation— in a remote village in Rajasthan. She is a globe-trotter but now finds herself at home in India.
On Jaipur-Agra Highway, in a nondescript village called Garh Himmat Singh in Dosa district, Andrea has started her Hockey Village India a year ago.
“It’s almost a year and half that I started this Hockey India Village. Since last one year I have started training kids from this village which has a population of just around 4000,” said Andrea about her dream project.
Andrea, who has a travel agency in Germany, is a vagabond. She first came to India some 12 years back. It was love at first sight as she fell in love with Jaipur on her first visit.
“I felt like home when I landed at Jaipur. Being a travel agent, I am a globe-trotter but at Jaipur I felt like home,” she said when asked about selecting India as her destination.
It was payback time for Andrea who almost made to the German national team but for a slip disc.
“That was the most unfortunate moment in my career. Had that injury not happened I would have played for the country. But no regrets. The game has given me a lot and I want to pay back,” said the lanky German.
It was a difficult task for Andrea to convince kids and their parents to play hockey. The biggest obstacle was the language barrier.
“To be honest, it was very difficult to convince the villagers that I want to give these kids a better life through sports and education. I didn’t have a clear idea on how and from where I could generate money. Nobody really understood what a white lady was doing in this remote village,” she recalled.
Andrea had to sell her flat in Berlin to fund his dream project.
“Last year I sold my flat to pump in some more money for my foundation. Kids are coming now. At present I have around 60 players, both boys and girls, practicing. We don’t have a full size hockey ground. The field is only a quarter of a full hockey field but the kids are learning and enjoying. Last year we played in the KD Singh Babu tournament in Gwalior. Though we lost, the boys got first experience of their life,” said Andrea with a twinkle in her eyes.
“After hockey World Cup last year, I managed to bring a few veteran players from Vienna to Garh Himmat Singh. They helped me in arranging hockey sticks, T-shirts and other equipment for the budding players,” she said.
Though it is very difficult to run the show, various private sport institutions specialising in hockey, some from Germany, have extended their support to her silent revolution.
“They are of great help. Now I have started to even teach these kids. After all education is also must. We have started with English because that’s language which can bridge the gap fast,” she said.
Andrea now has plans to lay astro-turf at Garh Himmat Singh.
“In Germany there are at least two astro-turfs with each club. I want to have one at Garh Himmat Singh. At present the kids are learning on chat (mud) ground. But I want to see them practice on turf like kids do in Germany,” she concluded.