Any player is paid to represent their country but there are players from Wales who pay £1,000 a year to play for their national team. The Wales team is making its FIH Men’s World Cup debut here and the journey to India has not been an easy one as the team has to ‘crowd fund’ the ‘flight, accommodation and food’ in the two cities of the host country. Funds raised from the public) from which £25,000 was raised.
Wales head coach Daniel Newcombe said ahead of the team’s opening match against England, ‘Crowd funding’ is an important part of reducing the cost of players. Players also contribute, with each player giving £1,000 for each year they play for Wales. He said, “Hockey is a small game here and our national stadium can seat only 200 people which is very different from here (Birsa Munda Stadium with a capacity of 21,000 spectators). The coach said, “The amount received from the government is very limited, so the players also contribute. But the recent success of qualifying for big tournaments has made us travel a lot and our government has also been really supportive. We now have a shirt sponsor and this has reduced the cost on the players.
