Ways to win back fans

08/04/1999

FORMER Pakistani ace Shahnaz Sheikh is working hard to bring back the
wizardy of stickwork to the game.
Over the years, amendments to the rules by the International Hockey
Federation (IHF) have seen stickwork losing out to the power game and long
passing.
The Olympian centre-forward Shahnaz, who played alongside captain Khalid
Mehmood and brought glory to Pakistan at the 1970 Asian Games and the 1971
Buenos Aires World Cup, has submitted a working paper to the Pakistan
Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) for their
persual.
The AHF will hold their council meting tomorrow and he hopes they will
discuss his proposals.
"Robbing the match of close play and good stickwork has emptied the
terraces which has resulted in the reluctance of sponsors to come forward
and support the game.
"In Pakistan and India local league matches used to attract thousands
before, but only a handful today. I see the same all over the world. That
is why we need change."
Shahnaz believes that the changes brought by the IHF Rules Board have
encouraged attacking hockey with less skill and flavour.
"This has eliminated the relationship between stick and ball and the
fans are keeping away from hockey.
"So in the larger interest of the sport, the IHF Board must emphasise on
the beauty of the game which helped pack the stadiums before.
"Among my suggestions are that the duration of the match be increased
from 70 minutes to 90; the back pass be restricted; and a third umpire be
introduced.
"Rolling substitutions and the availability of 18 players during the
match has made it possible to increase hockey matches by 20 minutes. The
proposal is to divide the match into four quarters with rest periods of
between five and 10 minutes.
"This way, not only the fans will get more worth for their money but the
sponsors will also have more time to advertise. It will also allow the
full use of rolling substitution."
Shahnaz also feels that backpasses have made the game boring as the
crowd sees less risks being taken in the match.
"Restricting backpass from one to the other zones would result in closer
contact between stick and ball and make the game more interesting.
"Both the attacking and defending teams should not be allowed to make a
back pass from one zone to the other zone. This could also discourage
delaying tactics."
According to Shahnaz a third umpire, one who watches the game closely on
a television screen, is needed especially during penalty corners.
"With drastic changes in rules, penalty corner taking teams sometimes
succeed in blocking the view of the umpire and many incidents have arisen
where the stopper used his thumb to make a dead stop but the umpire is
caught unaware.
"As experienced in the last Champions Trophy match between Pakistan and
Holland, a player blocked the vision of the goalkeeper but the umpire was
busy checking the stopper. The second umpire was too far away to notice.
"The game has become so fast that it is now a stupendous task to check
whose deflection went into the net - defender or attacker. The third
umpire can monitor everything on the screen."
Shahnaz started his crusade in 1992 after Pakistan failed to win gold at
the Barcelona Olympics. Pakistan were beaten in the semifinals by Germany
who went on to win the gold by beating Australia in the final.
Since then, Shahnaz has taken pains to study the cause of that downfall,
and the factors that led to the rise of the Europeans.
His `old ways' have succeeded in grooming players in the 1992 Junior
Asian Cup to become world class players today as evident in goalkeeper
Ahmed Alam, skipper Atif Bashir and Shahbaz Junior.
(END)