10/03/2020
The legacy was created when the whistle blew at the end of sixty minutes. Boys in raging red jersey was on cloud nine shouting out ‘Bhadra Bhadra!!’ With enormous pride, they etched their victory in Hockey Schroeter 2020, which was followed by a gold and a silver medal in ’18 and ’19. Yes, they are now the Hat-trick finalists or it can be put ‘All-time finalists’ since the team was formed in 2018. The majestic building with ‘BHADRA’ inscribed on its façade was full of PhD scholars, whom the society perceives as nerdy all-time-lab-goers. But no one had any idea that those only-curricular people will go on to win two gold medals and a silver medal consecutively. In 2018, the team was organised by the then captain Kulandaisamy who hunted for motivated people with interest to learn something new. When the team was formed, most of the players were completely new to hockey with very less or no previous sports experience. But the captain taught them rigorously with great morale that the guys who didn’t know how to hold a hockey stick gradually started to grasp the game. The team also had a few other senior players who put in their effort to train and coordinate the team. Technical requirements were completely fulfilled without any compromise by the then Sports Secretary Deepan Jayaraman who is also part of the team. Without much support and facing anti-cheering, the team went on to become the champions in 2018. The next year, the defending champions were joined by the stylish player Victor Sourisseau from France who had extra-ordinary skills and became the part and heart of the team in a short period of time. He has been a great boon to the team as well as institute hockey family. Being stronger than the previous year, they entered finals defeating all the teams but unfortunately the tournament had to end with silver medal. In 2020, the team rose up again under the new captain Prasana Manikanda Kartik, with vigour to retrieve back what they lost. Facing all the odds from insufficient players to back-stab politics, they made headway to become the champions again outperforming all the other teams. In all the 16 matches played in three years, they have conceded only 5 field goals. Sudharsanan, an extra-ordinary defender kept the wall of Bhadra unbreached throughout this journey and his decade of experience in hockey stood unmatched by opponents' skills. We thank current and previous Sports Secretaries and Wardens for their continuous support without which this achievement would’ve been far-off. As now is the time for everyone to leave Bhadra, this was the last Schroeter played by these zestful guys. But, this team will always be known as “The Roaring Bhadras”, the team everyone was terrified of!!
