VJ Phillips: The Parangimalai or St. Thomas’s Mount is a well-known hockey suburb of Chennai and home to such legendary hockey players as triple Olympians Ranganathan Francis and Phillips’ elder brother VJ Peter. Not lacking in hockey environment, therefore, it was obvious for Phillips to take to the sport from an early age. The speedy forward represented St. Thomas Higher Secondary School and locality club Mount Star in various age-group tournaments, impressing everyone with his speed and stamina, before getting into the prestigious Madras Christian College. However, even before he could finish his graduation, his performances at the Jamshedpur junior national championships brought Phillips a job offer from the Indian Railways, then among the best hockey teams in the country, in 1967. He was soon selected for the All India Railways team, winning silver at the 1969 Senior National Championship in Ernakulam. It was around the same time that Phillips got his first call-up for the national camp at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, which was an exciting time for the youngster given that his elder brother and role model, the illustrious VJ Peter, was also present at the camp. Though Lahore International, the tournament for which the camp was being held, was cancelled, Phillips did not have to wait long for his initiations into the national side, earning his spurs in 1970. He was not only part of the 1972 Olympics but also the gold-winning 1975 World Cup squad. Phillips continued to participate in the national championships all the way till 1984.