In a move towards promoting sports in its areas of operation, Tata Steel’s Ore Mines & Quarries (OMQ) Division in association with Hockey Australia (the governing body of hockey in Australia) today began formal hockey training for girls of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidayalaya (KGBV) at Noamundi. The collaboration of Tata Steel with Hockey Australia is to promote and popularise the game of hockey in India. 

The initiative coordinated by Tata Steel Rural Development Society at Noamundi is aimed at attracting youngsters towards hockey. The idea is to teach them basics of the game in a fun-filled yet professional ambiance. Under the “Hook in 2 Hockey” programme, 30 selected girls of KGBV at Noamundi will now be trained in hockey.

Hockey kits provided by Hockey Australia were today distributed to the selected girls of KGBV by Mr Pankaj Satija, General Manager (OMQ) Division, Tata Steel.The kit comprised of hockey stick, ball, shin-guard, T-shirt, Gumshield, etc.

Talking about the initiative, Mr Satija said: “Sports is a way of life at Tata Steel. The partnership with Hockey Australia is going to shape up the lives of the young hockey players in rural areas."

On a similar note, Captain Amitabh, Head, Skill Development, Tata Steel said: “This is fantastic platform for the young girls of the school to learn and develop this sport. It is one of its kind initiative in Jharkhand."

Jharkhand over the years has given some of the finest international hockey players to the Indian Hockey team. Owing to its popularity in the tribal regions of West Singbhum, Noamundi has been selected by Tata Steel as the breeding ground for girl’s hockey to encourage talent in rural areas.

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, 2017. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $18.12 billion (INR 117,420 crore) in FY17. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 74,000. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2015). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has also been felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2013-14 (received in 2017), Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2016), ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ award from TIME India (2016) and the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from the Ethisphere Institute (2016), IIM Sustainability Award (2015), among several others.

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