The JSA Hockey League, started by hockey players and enthusiasts of the game in 1963, continues to be a passion and an identity of Jharkhand. The Chotanagpur region was then known for its love for hockey and so was the area surrounding Jamshedpur a city bustling with sporting activities. Accordingly, the JSA Hockey League was born out of such passion and at the instance of lovers of the game such as Mr. K. C. Gandhi, a Superintendent of the Transportation Department of Tata Steel who was a great hockey player himself, along with Mr. Jimmy Thomas who was a teacher at St. Mary's School, Bistupur and also a hockey player from St. Mary's Club, Bistupur.

However, the two big names like TISCO (Tata Steel) and TELCO (Tata Motors) who later became fierce competitors in the League, were never part of the original League which started in 1963. Initially, there were about 12 to 15 teams, like Birsa Club, Mango Club, Parsudih Club, Adiwasi Development Welfare Association, Adityapur Club, Kadma Boys Club etc. The tournament used to be played at Kadma Boys' School ground. Later, when teams like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Punjab Sporting Club and others entered the fray in 1966, the League started getting a glamorous appeal, the competition became tougher and there were large number of followers of the game. It was during this period that the competition between TISCO and TELCO became a very much anticipated event.

Players began to be recruited from Khunti, Simdega and Gumla regions as well as from outside the State like Uttar Pradesh, both by TISCO and TELCO teams. This was and still is often referred to as the 'Golden Era' of Jamshedpur hockey. This was the time when the hockey teams of Jamshedpur played for two trophies in a season - Mathur Shield and Shanti Shield adding further charm in the JSA Hockey League.

However, with the onset of astro-turf, polygrass etc as playing surfaces for hockey, the demand for grass court hockey players declined and so did the popularity of the game in Jamshedpur resulting in less recruitment of hockey players. By 2006 the number of participating teams in the JSA Hockey League declined to 8 resulting in the shutting down of the League.

Things took a turn for the better in 2016 – 17 with a fresh start to the game. This year a JSA Hockey Sub Committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ritu Raj Sinha, Chief (Corporate Administration) which met on July 4th and decided to conduct the JSA Hockey League from August 20 – 24, 2018 at the Naval Tata Hockey Academy ground. For the first time Hockey players of East Singbhum will get an opportunity to play on Astro turf at NTHA Stadium. Registration process for players and teams will start from last week of July. The charges are Rs. 500/- as entry fee for the private clubs and Rs. 2000/- for Corporate teams. Contact person for registration is Sri Arun Sinha, at the JRD Tata Sports Complex

About Tata Steel                  
Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2018. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $20.41 billion (INR 133,016 crore) in FY18. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel retained Industry Leader position in FY18 and ranked second overall in the DJSI assessment, 2017. The Company has been recognised as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel was felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2014-15 and 2015-16, Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2018) and ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018). The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the sixth time (2018), Steel Sustainability Champions (2017) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2017 & 2018), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2017) as well as 'Asia's Best Integrated Report' award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), among several others.

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