School kids play hockey with eggs, fists

There have been instances when senior men's teams have come to blows or attacked referees in domestic hockey tournaments.

If that is accepted as part and parcel of the game, what happened at the Karnataka State Hockey Association Stadium on Thursday after the inter-school Fr Eric Vaz (Juniors) and Centenary (Seniors) tournaments, takes things to a new high.

St Joseph's Boys' High School triumphed in both categories beating St Germain’s HS in the junior category and Bishop Cotton Boys’ School in the senior category. But it turned ugly later.

The rivalry between St Joseph’s Boys’ High School (SJBHS) and Bishop Cotton Boys’ High School (BCBHS) went to such extremes that students from both schools who had come to the stadium to support their respective teams started bad-mouthing each other.

But that was only the beginning. They were armed eggs and tomatoes which they threw at their rivals both at half time and regulation time.

Later, when the victorious St Josephites were doing a victory lap, in flew a hockey stick from the crowds and hit SJBHS player Glen D'Souza who sustained a forehead injury with the cut requiring sutures.With a player injured, passions reached the boiling point and it turned into a free-for-all.

But order was restored with the help of the police and the students left the stadium. But things were not resolved.

The moment they left the stadium, the boys from both the schools were at each others’ throats and were found roughing up each other on Rhenius Street, leading to Richmond Road.
One of the students sustained an injury on the forehand, though no serious injury was reported.

Inter-school tournaments are meant to highlight the spirit of sport. But what happened on Thursday raises a lot of questions on the way tournaments are conducted and what the players know about the spirit of the game.