Sikh Union Coventry Hockey Club

The 60's and 70's
The late sixties and the early seventies saw the arrival into Britain of many Asians from East Africa (former collective name for of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). Quite a few of these Asians were either keen hockey players or had a very good hockey background. Most of them loved the game so much that they wanted to continue to play while in Britain.

It was difficult for the senior Asians to continue with the game they loved because of responsibilities and other commitments. However, most of the younger players started to play for schools and/or local clubs. This was the trend in East Africa, mainly in Kenya. But when it came to playing hockey outside the season or during the long summer school holidays there was nowhere to go.

In 1968 a few of the Coventry lads got together and started to play in parks or where they could find enough space. Gradually, with the arrival of more Asians from Africa the numbers grew and a team was formed. Asian teams were now being formed in almost all the major towns in Britain. These teams started to get together in the summer and play competitive hockey in the Asian tournaments all over England.

The newly formed Coventry team needed an identity. They chose to call it "Sikh Union Coventry Hockey Club" modelling it on the Kenyan (Nairobi and Kisumu) Sikh Union clubs. In 1980 the club affiliated with the Hockey Association and started to play league hockey. The team also continued to play in the summer tournaments. With more Asians coming from Africa and India, the club membership started to grow. The decade up to 1990 saw Sikh Union Coventry Hockey Club emerge as a recognised and respected club within and outside league hockey.

The 90's
The decade up to 1990 saw Coventry Sikh Union Hockey Club emerge as a recognised and respected Club within and outsideLeague Hockey.

2000s
Sikh Union's first team during the seasons of 2000-2004 was the strongest and perhaps the most successful since the 1970's. The club were league champions in the 2002-2003 season.

2003 league winners: Raj Dhesi, Mindi Dhanjal, Sunny Kanwal, Rashpal Lotay, Laddi Dhanjal, Micky Hayer, Hardeep Dhinsa, Narinder Mann, Sukhi Chuttha, Subi Dhanjal & Ricky Dhanjal.

The youth programme
To keep Sikh Union supplied with new young players for the future, a 5-year youth programme was drafted by Kuljit Sembhi and started on Tuesday 5th September 2000. The initial training sessions were attended by just three youngsters. It was an unfortunate winter in that we had the worst weather ever witnessed. It rained non-stop, but this did not stop the youngsters whose resilience was surprising. They continued to attend the training sessions week-in, week-out. Gradually the numbers grew to over 30 youngsters aged between 6-14.

Sikh Union Captains
1969 - 1975 - Gurmukh Soor
1976 - 1977 - Billu Sambhi
1978 - 1980 - Debi Soor
1981 - 1990 - Billu Dhanjal
1991 - 1992 - Kuljit Sembhi
1993 - 1994 - Rashpal Lotay
2000 - 2001 - Amrik Bansal
2002 - 2006 - Sunny Kanwal
2007 - 2008 - Mindi Dhanjal
2008 - 2009 - Ricky Saund
2010 - 2019 - Mindi Dhanjal
2019 - 2023 - Sunny Shoker
2023 - Present - Jag Bancil

Sikh Union Nairobi and Kisumu
The backbone of Sikh hockey in Kenya has been the Sikh Union Club and one of the reasons for the continuous improvement of the standards of hockey in this club has been due to the remarkable way in which those of the older generation have not merely withdrawn themselves from active participation, but have at the same time been devoting themselves to the training of the upcoming generation to replace them.

Two persons stand out in this respect, them being Mahan Singh, who was coach to the Kenya team from 1952 to 1960, and Hardial Singh, coach to Kenya team from 1960 to 1966 and both in their days being outstanding players. Hardev Singh is coach to the Kenya Police and Kenya Army, a further recognition of the Sikhs ability in the game.

But by far the most colourful and outstanding player from the community has been Surjeet Singh Deol, who for nearly eighteen years occupied a prominent role in Kenya and East African hockey, captaining the Kenya team to the first ever Olympic participation in 1956 at Melbourne. He captained East Africa also on many occasions.

The stature of Sikhs in hockey can be gauged from the fact that the Sikhs have formed the bulk of the Kenya hockey contingent to the Olympic games with eight players in 1956, nine in 1960 and six in 1964.

Sikh Union Coventry Hockey Club

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