Mumbai, June 25 -- In what could further dent Mumbai hockey's already dwindling landscape, the hockey programme at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Kandivali is set to be discontinued. The SAI regional centre, renamed Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee National Centre of Excellence, has around 40 women in its hockey programme currently at the residential facility in Kandivali, which has an astro turf for training. It is learnt that they will be asked to transfer to another SAI centre, either within or outside Maharashtra. The SAI centre in Aurangabad has a hockey programme for men. In a SAI meeting with divisional and regional heads in May, Mumbai's regional centre "requested the discontinuation of Hockey at NCoE due to inadequate infrastructure", as per the minutes of the meeting. HT has seen the document. The Kandivali centre has developed and groomed some good talent into the state and national setups. Among players to have trained there include Rutuja Pisal, who is in the current Indian women's senior group and was part of the squad that won the recent FIH Nations Cup, and five players who are presently in the national junior core group. Of them, three are set to feature in the Indian junior team's tour to the UK next month. It is learnt that from the 40 players attached with the centre currently, three are from Maharashtra. SAI Kandivali also boasts a solid team that often competes in local competitions in Mumbai. In the recent 45th Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana Rink Hockey Tournament, the city-based SAI team beat heavyweights Central Railway to lift the women's elite title. "It will be a loss," said a city-based coach. "This was a good residential facility for players in Mumbai. Junior players will now have to adjust to shifting to another city and centre. Being in Mumbai also provided them good competition in local tournaments with teams like Railway, Customs, etc." A player from Maharashtra who trained at the centre before progressing to the national setup at SAI Bengaluru said the opportunity to play in open tournaments and gain match exposure and experience was an advantage in Mumbai. "For players from Maharashtra, it will be a bit of a setback because you had a residential and training base in the state itself," the player said, requesting anonymity. "But, they can go to another centre with better facilities and training groups and develop further." The move comes against the backdrop of an MoU signed between SAI Kandivali and the state government in October 2024. Part of the plans to develop and modernise infrastructure in the 37-acre campus was to build a "new modern hockey turf of international standards". The ground, although only used by specific teams for practice, will now lose accessibility completely. "The ground is the centre's, not the state's nor Mumbai's. So there is no real access for Mumbai players unless you get into the hostel," Dhananjay Mahadik, former India player and secretary of Hockey Mumbai City (HMC), said. "Because it already had limited access, it's not going to make that much difference. The only thing is that the government should provide some alternatives." With hockey in Mumbai having fallen from the high points of its past, where it produced a frequent battery of players into the national setup and was buzzing with tournaments in the city, this move could turn another challenging chapter in its revival quest. "The current scenario, based on the last five years, shows Mumbai hockey is coming into a difficult situation, unless the government or the association does something," said Mahadik....