Indoor and outdoor hockey in Peru
1 June 2004
The Global Youth Hockey Marathon in Peru was seen as an appropriate occasion to consolidate the growth that we have started to experience in Youth Hockey.
For many years hockey has been restricted to two or three schools and a single club. Following the success of the previous Global Marathon and the recognition of Indoor Hockey as a valuable sport in its own right, and a means of introducing children to field hockey in less developed countries, hockey has started a slow, but steady, increase in the number of schools that are taking up our sport.
Unfortunately, the dates that have been selected for this event are very inconvenient for us since they coincide with school holidays and with university mid-semester exams. We would hope that, in the future, this situation is considered and an alternative date be sought by FIH.
Originally, we had hoped that our Development officer, Carlos Morales, would be in charge of the organisation of the event. Unfortunately, his commitment to a special event at his university meant that a substitute had to be found on this occasion. In this way, the responsibility was given to our Youth Panel representatives, Roberto Flores M. and Fatima Seminario.
Their idea was to promote junior hockey in the two clubs that have recently taken up our sport: Club Hebraica and Real Club de Lima, so exhibitions were organised. The Marathon itself would not last 24 hours since there was a severe limitation with regards to the number of players that would take part, most of them on holidays and others in exams. The sites were chosen to be the traditional ones: Markham College and Lima Cricket & Football Club. Finally, indoor hockey would be played on Saturday and field hockey on Sunday.

The final programme was as follows:

Saturday, 15^{th Indoor Hockey}

Both Mini – Marathons were well attended and extended an hour over and above what had originally been planned. It is estimated that between 130 and 150 players participated over the weekend.
As a result, it is expected that Club Hebraica will continue to develop its junior teams (both boys and girls) and Real Club de Lima has announced that it will soon follow the same path (hopefully starting in July). This puts us in a very good position to introduce junior hockey in other similar clubs in Lima.
Schools that could not take part are hoping for another event of this nature to be organised soon and our youth have demonstrated that they are quite capable of taking organisation matters into their own hands and even raise some money towards their U/17 National teams. Adult spectators have realised that hockey is a wonderful sport for their children, who have thoroughly enjoyed it and are looking forward to more serious competitions in the future. Coverage in the most influential newspaper has meant that there is greater interest in other cities in Peru, which we might take advantage of in the near future.
Roberto Flores E.
President
Federacion Peruana de Hockey