Their heydays might be over but senior players of Visakhapatnam port decided to organise a hockey tournament to popularise the national game among children and youngsters.

They are conducting an invitation hockey tournament at the Port Stadium here from June 28 to July 1 in which 11 teams including the Visakhapatnam Port are participating. In tune with the idea of encouraging youngsters, the teams invited are packed with young and talented players, except the Visakhapatnam port squad which has some seniors. This was informed by Hockey Vizag’s working president S.K.E. Appa Rao, and former general secretary B. Gopalakrishna at a press conference on Thursday. The tournament is being organised under the auspices of Visakhapatnam Hockey Association. The teams participating in the league-cum-knock-out tournament are Anantapur (RRB), Dharmavaram, Guntur, Kakinada, Elamanchili, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Vizag City Police, Vizag City, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT). The teams are divided into four pools and will play on a league-cum-knockout format. Commissioner of Income tax, Visakhapatnam, K.V.N. Chary will inaugurate the tournament on Saturday while Chairman of VPT M.T. Krishna Babu will be the chief guest of the valedictory function to be held on July 1. District Hockey Association general secretary Bhavani Shankar, organising secretary K.V. Anjaneya Rao and others unveiled the trophy.

11 teams to take part in the event which will be conducted on a league-cum-knockout format