New Delhi, Dec 16 : USA women's team defender Ashley Hoffman is excited to be part of the Hockey India League (HIL) 2024-25 season after being signed by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers for Rs 10 lakh.

The 28-year-old feels lucky to be playing in India after replacing Ireland's Sarah Hawkshaw in the Bengal squad. Ashley went unsold in the HIL auction last month but she was destined to play in India and experience the love and affection of the country's passionate fans.

"I'm extremely excited, counting down the days actually until we leave (for India). I think it's such a cool opportunity to learn as a person and a hockey player and experience something completely new," she told IANS in an exclusive conversation.

"Of course, it was disappointing to lose the opportunity that I wanted to experience India and to play with Indian players. And so that made the call that I got a couple days later even more sweet and me appreciated that much more because I got to feel how disappointed I was in the beginning. So, yeah, now I'm just really excited that it worked out in the end," Ashley elaborated on her feelings after going unsold in the HIL auction.

With Indian stars Vandana Katariya, Udita and Lalremsiami set to be her teammates, Ashley is keen to build great friendships and learn from fellow players during her stay in India.

"Extremely lucky to play alongside these players that have a wealth of international experience. USA hockey bubble is quite small, so I am going to take as much knowledge that I can gain from these players and coaches as I can in my experience in India. And more than that, just to get to know these players as people, I think that is what I'm most looking forward to, is to establish some friendships and relationships along the way and have a really fun time.

And I always have the most fun when we're competing really, really hard together. So, of course, I'm excited to play with such good players, and I hope that we can do very well in the tournament," she added.

Talking about the launch of the women's edition of the HIL, Ashley sees it as an opportunity for the Indian women's team to excel on the international stage in the future.

"Yeah, definitely. I think you see that the countries that have popular leagues are excelling internationally, and you have players travelling from all over the world to the best players travelling all over the world to play in those leagues. So, it not only helps the country where it's hosted, but it helps the players play alongside and learn from some of the other best players of the world. So, I think that this is going to help the Indian women's team do well for years to come.

"I think the investment is huge for India, and I can only hope that the U.S. looks at this and tries to see the value and almost replicate, and we create a league in the U.S. That's great," she remarked.

Apart from gaining valuable hockey knowledge, the defender is also looking forward to learning Hindi and experiencing Indian food to know her teammates better and establish a personal touch with them.

"First off, I would love to learn how to say hello. How are you? Little things in Hindi or the language that the teammates will speak in India, because I think that's super important when you go to a country, and I'll try to learn more about the food, about the way that they play and how they see the game, what presses that they like to do, or different tactics," Ashley said.

"I think there's a wealth of knowledge that I will be able to take from this experience, both on and off the field, and I just hope to be a sponge in the month of January to take it all in and then equally share my experiences and build relationships with my teammates in that way," she added.

When asked about the ardent Indian fans, Ashley didn't shy away from calling India a special place to play hockey due to massive home support for the game.

"Absolutely, I am so looking forward to experiencing India's love for hockey, their fans' excitement, and the pace of the game. It's like no other place in the world when it comes to hockey matches, so I am really looking forward to just feeling the buzz, the energy of everyone in the hockey world over in India. Yeah, I hope to play some really exciting games of hockey," she concluded.

/IANS