With 14 boys in national teams, Punjab back on hockey pedestal

Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 26
A concerted talent hunt-cum-grooming programme initiated six years ago has started showing results as 14 Punjab players – all in their teens – have found their way in the Indian junior and senior hockey teams that will be playing major international tournaments in the first week of May.

While India juniors will be defending their Asia Cup title in Melaka in Malaysia starting from May 3, the seniors will be competing in a four-nation pre-Olympic tournament in London from May 4.

It is rare that so many Punjab boys have got into national senior and junior teams at the same time.

India juniors will have not only nine players from Punjab, but also the captain of the team – centre forward Akashdeep Singh – is also the product of the Hockey Initiative controlled and supervised by former international player and national coach Sukhvir Singh Grewal.

With the backing of the then Secretary Sports Paramjit Singh Aujla and Director of Sports Pargat Singh, Sukhvir Singh Grewal not only supervised every selection trial but also made sure that each player selected at the formative age of 12 to 14 years is given proper scientific training with a focus not only on developing his hockey skills but also honing his speed, strength, explosive power and agility.

After nearly five years of sustained hard work, Punjab trainees now swarm Indian camps for junior and senior players. As of today, 24 Punjab players, all below the age of 19 years, are attending these camps in preparation for the London Olympics as well as the Junior World Cup.

Besides skipper Akashdeep Singh, fullback Sukhmanjit Singh, midfielders Harjit Singh, Gurmail Singh, Prabhdeep Singh and Satbir Singh and forwards Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh and Sukhdev Singh are members of the Melaka-bound Indian junior team.

Manpreet Singh, Sarwanjit Singh, GS Chandi, Gurbaj Singh and Dharamveer Singh are in the team to play the pre-Olympic tournament in London.

“Punjab has talent. When we started in 2005-06, we had four residential academies. The number has gone up to six now. Besides, we have 50 day-boarding training centres,” says Sukhvir Singh Grewal maintaining that merit was the sole criteria for selection in these centres. Each trainee was given a fair opportunity to exhibit his talent. Total strictness was maintained while determining the correct age of the trainees as no over-age player was considered.

Efforts were also made that trainees get adequate attention to pursue their studies. That is why at the time of selection trials, each one of them had to clear a written test.

For those entrusted with training of these youngsters, regular clinics were organised where besides international experts like Shiv Jagday – an FIH-certified coach who had successfully trained both Canadian and the US teams – national experts like Olympian Ramandeep Singh and international Jagdeep Singh Gill conducted special camps for coa

ches.

Sukhvir Singh Grewal and his team of coaches developed special training modules. Coaches included Olympian Didar Singh (Namdharis), Gurdev Singh, Avtar Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Yadwinder Singh besides plysical trainers Jaspreet Singh Jassi and Sanjeev Kumar.

The future of this initiative, however, does not appear to be that rosy. If the recent developments are any indication, the Sports Department may find it hard to sustain it because of a big slash in its budget.

The number of hockey wings has already been reduced from 75 to 50. In some centres, the number of trainees, too, has been reduced. While hockey continues to be patronized by children from the middle or lower middle class, financial support from the government is necessary not only for meeting parts of the expenses on training, diet and fitness of the trainees but also for the maintenance of infrastructure, including synthetic surfaces, gyms and sports medicine centres.