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15-yr Old Sikh-Briton on England Hockey Team

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Ashpal Kaur Bhogal has become the first Sikh-Briton female player to be selected in any of the England Woman's Hockey international programs.

Leeds Met Carnegie hockey Coach, Regional Performance coach and former elite player, Bobby Singh Bhogal has been single handily coaching Ashpal Kaur Bhogal, who is also his daughter, since the age of six.

Ashpal says she has "realised a dream in being selected for the England Under 16 squad to travel to Holland for the Four Nations tournament [in April]."

Ashpal, 15, is a Leeds based schoolgirl and currently a pupil at Boston Spa School Leeds. She made it through several months of rigorous assessment to earn her place in the 18-strong party. She has moved through the England Hockey's new single system process and has excelled at every age group.

Ashpal, who started playing senior Ladies hockey with Pudsey Leeds  at age 9, now represents Harrogate Hockey Club Woman's 1st team and has been playing there since aged 13. She managed to retain her place in the national side after the provisional 30-strong squad was whittled down to 18 over the course of a three-month period.

Along with her 17 team-mates, Ashpal took part in a holding camp at Lilleshall at the end of March before flying out to the Netherlands on April 1.  England faced Germany, Spain and hosts Holland during the five-day competition.

Coach Bobby Singh said "What she has done is inspirational and I cannot yet convey in words how proud our family is of Ashpal. To get to this point we started the journey 10 years ago and through sheer hard work, dedication, focus and commitment we are here today. Was it worth it? You bet!"

He added: "A significant part of our programme was carried out using our exceptional facilities here at Leeds Met".

Ashpal's family members were originally refugees from Idi Amin's repression in Uganda. It is a family steeped in the game of hockey. She has been coached by her uncle Satvinderpal Singh Bhogal and, of course, her father - both elite players.

Bobby was an England representative at the European Indoor Hockey Championships in Prague in 2000. Today, Ashpal's father works as a hockey coach at the Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Metropolitan University.  

 

[Courtesy: Carnegie Sport and Fabian Hamilton, MP's blog]

Conversation about this article

1: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 24, 2010, 12:04 PM.

Ashpal, you come as a ray of hope to brighten the recent gloom cast by a handful of hoodlums that have blighted the good name of Sikhs. You are the new sapling of hope and come armed with a hockey stick to drive some good sense into that churlish lot. Ashpal, tujhe salaam!

2: Taran (London, United Kingdom), April 25, 2010, 11:59 AM.

Well done, Ashpal. We need more heroes like you in our community. Well done to Bobby Singh Bhogal and his wife as well, who have nurtured such a great talent. I wish more of our Sikh women represent and make the name of Kaur worthy in Sports and other competitive fields!

3: Sukhjinder Singh (New York, U.S.A.), April 25, 2010, 9:08 PM.

Ashpal, you've made us all feel proud of you. Good Luck! May Waheguru Ji bless you!

4: Chhota Bhai (Leeds, United Kingdom), April 26, 2010, 5:31 AM.

I don't know who deserves this more, Bobby or Ashpal. They've worked hard and hopefully will get their dues.

5: Parminder Singh (England), April 26, 2010, 5:41 AM.

Very well done to the both of you. What a fantastic achievement. Just goes to show, when you put in the hard work and keep the Guru in your hearts, there's nothing that isn't possible.

6: Hamera Bashir (Leeds, United Kingdom), April 26, 2010, 9:52 AM.

Well done, Ashpal and Bobby. You're an inspiration to us all. Keep on with the good work.

7: Paul Sohal (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.), April 26, 2010, 2:15 PM.

Good job and congratulations, Ash!

8: Baljit Singh Rihal, JP (London, United Kingdom), April 26, 2010, 4:51 PM.

What an absolute delight to hear of the success of Ashpal Kaur Bhogal. Congratulations on being selected for the Great Britain team. I sincerely hope to see you scoring goals for us in the Olympics.

9: Gurinder Singh Johal (Amritsar, Punjab), April 26, 2010, 10:02 PM.

It's a great achievement for all the Sikh girls and women. Especially, it is inspiring for the young girls in Punjab. Sadly, people here do not know about Ashpal' achievements.

10: Gurmukh Singh Rooprai (India), October 26, 2010, 8:08 AM.

I feel very proud that a young Sikh woman girl in Great Britain has done so well in the sport. Keep it up.

11: Zee Punjabi (Noida, India), December 03, 2010, 3:11 AM.

We really appreciate this spirit and talent of Ashpal Kaur. We would like to use this video for our news and especially for our religous programme, 'Ekonkar'?

12: Navdeep (Hoshiarpur, Punjab), February 05, 2011, 8:23 AM.

Congratulations, Ashpal. You make Sikhs proud worldwide. You are an inspiration for all young Sardarnis everywhere. Keep it up!

13: Karnail Singh Kalsi (India), June 29, 2011, 1:46 AM.

Congratulations on your success.

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