Emergence of the Club

It began in 1937 with a handful of eager youngsters whose prime aim was to play sport together.

Dyhan Chand

It is through their efforts that the foundation for this club was established and a unified community grown.It was due to the small size of the community as a whole, in those early days, that the sports club remained an integral part of the Christchurch Indian Association and was not until 1966 that it became a separate entity.

It was the tour of the 1935 Indian Hockey team to New Zealand, lead by the brilliant Dhyan Chand, which was to have an ever lasting impact on this Indian Community.

For Chand, the captain of the side, it was a prelude to the third successive victory of India in the Olympics in Berlin, and for the Indian youth of Christchurch (and, indeed, New Zealanders in general) a catalyst which encouraged many to pick up a hockey stick for the first time.

Chand lacked not one of the virtues of this skilful game, a true master. He could dribble the ball through a wall of baffled defenders, pass superbly and knew instinctively where to be to receive the ball and when to make the transfer, yet he never ceased to regard hockey as a team game. It was these qualities that the budding new Christchurch players tried to emulate.

It is of no surprise that the premier hockey trophy, played for over the Queen’s Birthday Weekend each year, is named in his honour – The Dhyan Chand Trophy.

A fitting tribute to a truly magnificent and legendary player.

1937-1959

With Dhyan Chand still fresh in their minds the Christchurch Indian team set about establishing a team worthy of the local competition.

Many hours were spent formulating the basic skills at Monica Thacker Park, more recently known as the Linwood High School Lower Fields.
1950 was seen as the turning point for the team, seeing it play its first game against another Indian team. It was against Wellington, and it was to Wellington they had to travel. The travel was rewarded with a victory against their local Indian side. This was followed by the first Indian Tournament, held in Wellington in 1953. It became known as the Coronation Tournament (after the Coronation of Queen ElizabethII).

After this tournament the Christchurch team went into recess, which saw older members retire and the younger members still primary school boys, slowly develop to their full potential.

History was to again repeat itself 25 years later.

From 1954 to 1959 these young players were nurtured and moulded into skilful players, many rising through the ranks of Hatch cup and New Zealand Secondary School level. In fact as 1959 approached it was realised that enough of these young members had developed into players capable of playing against other Indian teams.

This tournament was held over the King’s Birthday Weekend (known as the Queen’s Birthday Weekend) and matches were played against teams from Auckland and Wellington. Although the team did not fare well against the northern counter parts, going down 1-0 against Wellington and being convincingly beaten by Auckland 7-0.

The players returned having enjoyed their trip and having the first taste of tournament hockey.