Asian Age: From hockey field to top cop

Harpreet Lamba

Sportsmen often rue the lack of time during their playing careers to devote to education and learning, but when India hockey midfielder Gurbaj Singh was sidelined from the national team, he decided to make the most of it.

In the last one year, the 25-year-old finished his police and commando training — he is employed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Punjab — and has emerged “smarter and fitter”.
His day began at 5 am and included physical training, parade rehearsals, law classes, a game of football or gym, horse riding and even shooting! That he excelled and won a gold medal in the 3×3 shooting competition ahead of his 19 batch mates — a few of whom were from an Army background — stays his “standout moment”.

“Now I can shoot at any given point from a distance of 100 metres,” says Gurbaj, who learnt how to handle an AK-47 and other automatic weapons. “It will be part of my job when I begin police duty in future and I practised it a lot.

“We underwent shooting training for close to three months and I developed an interest in it,” said the Ferozepur lad. “I managed to qualify for the finals, topping my group. And was very focused going into the finals. It was very satisfying to win a trophy in a sport other than mine.

“Now, my team mates joke that I should compete in the next Olympics in shooting!”
Midfielder Gurbaj, who has represented India in over 150 international matches since 2006, though cannot help but draw parallels in the two distinct lives.

“My hockey stick was replaced by a rifle. Every morning when I picked it up to go the training ground, it gave me the same feeling of going and fighting for the country. Just like a captain commands his team mates to give their heart and soul in a game, we did so here as well.”
Talking about his days at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy, Gurbaj said he learnt a lot of things other than “just what books could teach”.

“Among the changes were the formal clothes, shoes, belts, which Punjab Police are very particular about. It was even compulsory to have dinner in formals at all time,” says Gurbaj with a smile.

“It may be normal for other people, but for us sportpersons it’s always been casuals. This was my induction into the world of studies and I learnt so much about life. We were even taught mannerisms and social conduct.”

His training period involved lot of “hands on” experiences. “We were put in life-like situations and our one month of training where all of us worked at different police stations was an insight into a different world. Dealing with criminals and visiting jails, while hearing pleas of people who came with hope, it was quite something.

“As athletes, our focus is strictly on game and fitness. While here, I learnt law, cyber crime, participated in debates and spent endless hours in the class room and libraries. As a kid, I used to run away from books, but I understood its importance now,” he recalls.

“We did have a lot of fun too, and I ended up making a lot of new friends.”
And while now he is all set to return to the India fold, Gurbaj says his one year of training will help him put things in a better perspective on the hockey field too.

“Discipline and team unity were the common points and I will carry a lot of it into the hockey field too.”