Legendary player-coach Richard Charlesworth is all set to become India’s first foreign Technical Director. Sources in the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), Indian Hockey Federation and also from Bangalore confirm the Australian’s appointment. Contract with him is on the advanced stage and it’s anytime he will be in India to take up the job he cherishes the most.

As per the assignment, Charlesworth will be directing the technical matters of both men’s and women’s national teams, senior and juniors included. Charlesworth is the choice of the FIH, which the women federation (IWHF) has ratified, while a section of the Men’s Federation is not in a mood to welcome him.

As his designation would suggest, Charlesworth will not be taking up men or women teams directly as the coach, but will summon all the wisdom at his command to streamline things that might lead to winning ways.

It is gathered the Australian has tuned down his fee, which came in the way when his case was seriously taken up a couple of years ago. Government of India too, in a rare move, has indicated its willingness to go beyond its stipulated fee for foreign coaches, which is USD 2500 per month (about Rs.1 lac).

The FIH will also be pitching in insofar as financial component of the Charleworth’s appointment is concerned, which in all likelihood is part of IOC’s Solidarity Programme. Under this programme, Dutchman Bob Davidzon has been working on ‘Promoting Indian Hockey’ project since August last year.

There is no denying the fact that the Indian hockey needs input from tried and tested brains like Charlesworth to put in place a system which aims and sustains success. India’s high performance team preparations, all said and done, is a long way to go. Both men and women federations fall short of vision, and are mentally and infrastructure wise not upto meet the emerging global challenges. Strong personalities like the present coach Joaquim Carvalho manage to call the shots whereas most other coaches succumbed to vicious forces within the system.

Even the views of the time test coaches like MK Kaushik are not heeded to by the Federations and frustration set in. Kaushik recently refused to continue as the Chief Coach.

It is hoped that with men of calibre like Charlesworth at the command, the Federations would be prevailed upon to rise upto the needs of modern hockey and make necessary steps to set the things right.

Conceptually, therefore, appointment of a technical director who will assist both men and women’s teams is a welcome step. It is all the more a must for women hockey where things are drifting towards worse in the last 10 months.

Therefore, keeping long term prospects in mind, coaches and the federations should welcome Charlesworth with open mind and extend him all co-operation; and try to make use of him whatever way they can.

However, a vital cog in the present coaching team commented: “If the FIH is really interested in our hockey, they could have got us Champions Trophy”.

S2h has been expressing consistent view on the need for Technical Director. The one s2h expressed in March this year is reproduced below:

Appointment of Technical Director is need of the hour. No doubt about it. Before that the IHF should know the role of Technical Director. In many countries they select coaches after following set procedures and formalities, advise the national Federation on all matters of selection and preparation of domestic and international teams, besides monitoring progress. Chief Executive Officer, like Ramesh Patel in New Zealand, runs administration and takes care of marketing needs. In other words, Technical Director and Chief Executive Officers are two eyes of every national federation. They are paid professionals with clear cut duties, objectives and tenure. They are thus accountable too.

Whether it is David Faulkner of England or Australia’s Terry Walsh now working with the USAHA, Federations world over are managing things this way only. This approach has yielded results too. USA’s women finished sixth at the Madrid World Cup while England’s men fifth at Monchengaldbach. (Published on 27th March 2007 in s2h).