The Wellington Indian Sports Club (WISC) has catered to the recreational and sporting needs of New Zealanders of Indian origin, living in the greater Wellington region, for 87 years.
The club is focused on providing opportunities for its members who are keen to play hockey and cricket.
Based in Kilbirnie, the club currently has 411 general members, with 125 senior players and close to 100 junior players.
Next year, the club will host the NZ Indian Sports Association’s Queen’s Birthday hockey tournament in Wellington.
Kiwi Indians from across NZ will converge in large numbers in Wellington to watch some of the best hockey in the country.
The WISC gym, the club’s primary source of revenue, has been refurbished over the last two years, making it earthquake proof. Toilets and changing rooms have been overhauled and the old turf has been replaced with a brand new one.
The club boasts a number of senior hockey teams this year, with five men’s teams and two women’s teams. The aim is to increase that number next year.
Kishan Naran, WISC vice president, explained the club facilitated hockey playing in the local Wellington competition for 3- to 4-year-olds all the way up to seniors, as well as the “golden oldies” in the over-60 category.
Over the years, the club has also fielded football, cricket and volleyball teams, Naran said.
“At the moment, we have five senior men’s hockey teams, two senior women’s hockey teams, and we have about 100 kids in our junior programme,” Naran told the Indian Weekender.
The general members don’t specifically play a sport.
The membership fee is $ 15. “It’s really affordable to be a member of our club,” Naran added.
“The golden oldies meet on Saturdays. You can book our gym and paly six-a-side hockey,” Kishan pointed out.
The club puts forward the teams to Wellington Hockey, which then administers the competition. “We normally play all our games at the Newtown complex.”
Coaching is provided for the juniors, from 3-year-olds all the way up to 13-year-olds.
While the club’s core membership is Indian, other community members are also signing up to join.
Any famous names coming out of the club?
“ Umesh Parag, who was a Black Sticks, went to the 2004 Olympics. Mitesh Patel went to the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth games. Husmukh Bhikha is another Olympian who played hockey at the 1984 Olympics. We also have Rajesh Ravji who represented NZ in Tae Kwon Do.”
The club is gearing up to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2025.
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