Indians in the Canadian team

By Mary and Gargi

Canada's hockey captain Ken Pereira, a player of Indian origin was Canada's flag-bearer at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

Kenneth (Ken) Pereira was born in Unionville, Ontario, on July 12, 1973. He is a hockey field midfielder. Ken and his two brothers were born in Canada but his parents are from India.
His mother studied at Don Bosco School and is a resident of Mumbai while his father hails from Karnataka.

His parents shifted to Canada in 1966 or 1967. His father Hugh Pereira used to work for a medical gas company in Toronto and has now retired from work.

Ken came to India in 1995 and in 2005 he visited his parent’s home for the first time. He still has relatives in Goa and Mumbai. He started playing hockey at the age of 16. He earned his first international cap in 1994 in a friendly match against Mexico in Toronto (3-0 win).

Today, the 37 year-old is renowned as one of the best hockey players. He has a remarkable international sporting career and has earned over 300 caps and is considered one of the best midfielders in the game.

Interacting with media persons in New Delhi, Pereira joked his way out of the issue by making it clear that he was born in Canada, and has only recently started visiting India. The veteran player also said that it is a little awkward when people try to speak to him in Hindi.

"It's like a Bollywood movie, it's completely blown up. I'd no idea it would be like this," he told media persons. He also said that he felt like a movie star in India because of the attention he was getting.

Interestingly, two more in the Canadian (men's) hockey team are also of Indian origin. They are Keagan and Gubbar Singh.