Thursday, June 9th, the field hockey launching took place in Mauritius at the initiative of the Mauritius hockey Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport. After this launch, an Indian delegation of the Hockey Foundation will visit several colleges to introduce students to this project. Nijahawan Raj, the project proponent, said he was proud to bring hockey in a country where the sport is little known. It is in the honor of his mother that he decided to reintroduce hockey in Mauritius. "My mother spent her two last years in Mauritius and wanted to introduce a sport unknown in the island," he reveals. "Hockey has its place, and more over, it is an easy sport. Boys and girls may take part in it. There are many Mauritians who have already had a glimpse of the sport through television. Learning in schools will do the rest. Hockey will certainly find its place," he says. As concerns funding, Raj Nijahawan reassured that hockey is not expensive, but some investment for sticks and balls will be made.
Field hockey is the oldest ball game with stick. It involves two teams of eleven players each on a 91.40 meters long and 55 meters wide field. The match lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes that is two halves of thirty-five minutes and a ten minute break. Only the goalkeepers are allowed to touch the ball with their bodies. The goal is validated only if an attacker hit the ball into the circle (a 16cm half-circle drawn from the center of the goal) toward the goal.