Uganda Olympian Avtar Singh Bhurji passes away

by Dil Bahra
28 January 2025

Avtar Singh Bhurji, who represented Uganda at Munich 1972 Olympic Games passed away in a hospice in Esher, Surrey, England on Sunday 26 January 2025 aged 80.

He was born on 15 December 1944 in Bika, India and his family emigrated to Uganda in the same year. He studied at Demonstration Primary School and Kololo Secondary School in Kampala, Uganda. He played hockey at the Secondary School and his school captain in those days, Rajinder Singh Sandhu, went on to Captain the Uganda team at Munich 1972 Olympic Games.

After his secondary schooling in Kololo, in 1964, he went to England for further education. He studied at Kingston College in the UK and played for Spencer Hockey Club and Middlesex U21 in 1968. That year he also played for London Indians.

Avtar returned to Kampala in 1969 after completing his studies. He joined Sikh Union Kampala in 1970 and was selected for the Uganda team for the Munich 1972 Olympic Games.

After the Olympic Games he returned to the UK and played for Blackheath H C in 1973, winning the National Indoor Championship with the Club in 1976.  He played for Surrey County team from 1973 to 1978 and was awarded his Surrey Colours in 1975-76 season.  He played for London Indians from 1973 to 1978, captaining the team for five years.

In 1978 he moved to Kenya and played for Nairobi Gymkhana.

After a short stay in Uganda, he returned to the UK in 1988 and settled in Surrey, UK. When injury brought an end to his playing days he took up coaching.

He was a Coach since 1991 and held the National Level 3 Coaching badge. He coached London University; Imperial Medics;  Greenwich University and Spencer teams. He was the Director of Coaching at Richmond Hockey Club from 2008 to  2011.

During the last decade he turned to photography and was regularly present at international hockey tournaments all over the world.

Shahid Khan, his team mate at Blackheath and London Indians paid this tribute: "I first came across Avtar in the successful Blackheath team of 1970s and later as the captain of the acclaimed London Indians team. He always brought sense of fun on the pitch and was a great hockey stalwart as a player, coach, and media photographer in recent years. A great loss to the hockey fraternity who will be missed by us all".