The Women’s Hockey India League, HIL-W, begins on January 12, 2025 at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Stadium in Ranchi. It is going to be a much-awaited and long-cherished day for the league as it is going to conquer gigantic hurdles along the way towards reaching the starting line for women’s hockey in India. They have also faced fewer teams, lesser funds and an overseas pool of participants who have gradually gone down in figures. However, Hockey India stands strong in league commitment and probable structural change in the form of women’s hockey within the country.
HIL Becomes The First-Ever Woman-Only Hockey League
It is for the first time that an all-women’s league has been added to the fold of the Hockey India League, and it is overdue. The Indian women’s team, who had finished as high as fourth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, were disappointed at not being considered for the Paris 2024 Olympic roster. This was the troubled phase of their lives, however it was more or less a warning that something definitely needed to happen, in other words, give a platform so that women talent could be nourished, and thus, the answer lies in the HIL-W for the competitive place of women on the pitch; at the same time, there will also be strengthening for future Indian hockey with this tournament parallel alongside the men’s league at Rourkela.
Limited Teams and Tough Road For New Franchises At HIL
Some detours, like the delay for the new franchises, have made the journey of HIL-W smoother. The Hyderabad Toofans and a franchise from the BC Jindal Group in Mumbai will enter the fray only in the 2025-26 season. Although the fewer number of franchises shall help in fostering a more competitive market in the immediate future, problems are created among the teams with such a limitation. Four-team format featuring the Delhi SG Pipers (DSGP), JSW Soorma Hockey Club (JSHC), Shrachi Rahr Bengal Tigers (SRBT) and the Warriors will follow in the round-robin. All four will play each other twice and the top two teams clash in the summit clash on 26th of January.
HIL Star Pull-Outs Weighed Against Foreign Player Exits
While withdrawals ahead of the competition had indeed occurred for HIL-W with foreign players’ participation being a major attraction, several notable Dutch Olympians, namely Xan Gerdien de Waard and Eva Drummond, as well as Great Britain’s Anna Toman and Giselle Anne Ansley, have withdrawn due to financial problems and injuries to other personal commitments. But Odisha’s team is one of the more potent ones with gold medalist from Paris 2024 Yibbi Jansen in its ranks. Odisha, under coach Janneke Schopman, who understands Indian hockey deep, would definitely be a team to watch.
HIL Auction And Broadcast Challenges Settled
The biggest challenge that HIL had was that all the worthy players were available in the auction. Several of the Indian and junior women’s team’s big names did not sell at the auctions, and Hockey India lowered the base prices for the women to Rs 2 lakh. It did this on appeal from the players so they would get a fair chance at auction. Although this was a major weakness of not having a private broadcast partner before the auction, Sony Sports Network has acquired the multilingual telecast rights of the league. To attract more spectators at the game and make hockey a more popular game, Hockey India will also provide free entry to all spectators at the 5,000-seater arena in Ranchi.
As the Women’s Hockey India League (HIL) finally gets underway, it would seem to hold as much in danger as promise. The next few weeks would indicate whether it delivers on all promises and pulls the crowds of cricket fans. The league provides the perfect launch pad for future Indian women hockey stars.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye
