When Lalremsiami Hmarzote told her parents at 11 that she wanted to leave home to join one of India’s leading hockey academies, she first had to explain to them what hockey was.
Today, the 26-year-old from Mizoram is one of Indian women’s hockey’s leading forwards, with 193 international caps, an Olympic appearance and an Asian Games medal to her name.
Now she is chasing another milestone – helping India win their first women’s hockey gold at the Asian Games since 1982.
Lalremsiami’s journey began playing barefoot on dirt pitches in Kolasib, a small town in mountainous Mizoram, where hockey remains a relatively minor sport.
When she earned an opportunity to join the Sports Authority of India academy in Thenzawl, about 170km from home, her parents were initially reluctant.
“My family initially didn’t want me to join the academy, but eventually they agreed,” she told Reuters.
“I told them I have to play it, I can only play hockey.”
The hills of Mizoram inadvertently helped develop one of her biggest strengths – stamina.
Hockey is one of India’s national sports but it remains a fringe pursuit in the tiny mountainous state of Mizoram, wedged between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Lalremsiami credited the geography of the mountainous region for helping her develop endurance and athleticism.
“If you’re walking somewhere, you’re either going up or down the hill,” Lalremsiami said with a smile. “You get used to the exhaustion, the heavy breathing ... it helps you when you are training as an athlete.”
Her fitness stood out when she debuted for India’s under-18 team and she was called up to the senior camp within a year.
Her fitness quickly attracted attention. After making India’s Under-18 team, she was invited to the senior camp within a year.
In 2018, Lalremsiami won silver at the Youth Olympics and scored four goals as India reached their first Asian Games women’s hockey final in two decades.
She has since become the first woman from Mizoram to compete at the Olympics and win an Asian Games medal.
Lalremsiami also became the first Indian woman to score at three consecutive World Cups. India finished fifth at last month’s tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium, their best result since 1974.
That performance has strengthened belief within the team ahead of this month’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
“We have the belief, but we are not over-confident,” Lalremsiami said. “I know everyone’s expectations are high but we must stay calm and focused.”
Her ambitions, however, extend beyond medals.
Lalremsiami wants to build hockey facilities across Mizoram so future generations, particularly girls, do not have to travel far from home for proper training.
She remembers beginning without equipment, borrowing sticks made available by a former player who coached children after school.
Mizoram, she said, still has only three hockey grounds, with players sometimes competing with football teams for space.
During the recent World Cup, her mother was approached by a parent whose daughter wanted to play hockey but did not know where to begin.
Lalremsiami found that troubling.
“It is my dream to build more hockey grounds in Mizoram,” she said.
Then came a prediction reflecting both confidence and hope: “They will produce much better players than me, I can guarantee that.”
Reuters
