New Indian Express: Coach D’Souza’s Total Hockey Paying Dividends

By Shayan Acharya

NEW DELHI: At one corner of the Shivaji Stadium, Cedric D’ Souza was standing quietly. As Delhi Waveriders players were busy fine-tuning their weak links ahead of their Hockey India League (HIL) game against the Uttar Pradesh Wizards, the chief coach was observing each and every step quietly.

Those who are familiar with the former India coach’s way of handling things know how excited he gets once the team takes the turf. So, such quietness was strange initially. But things slowly went in expected lines and D’Souza was shouting at the top of his voice, instructing his players on how to build pressure. “Think, rebound, think…,” he told Yuvraj Walmiki as the young forward failed to keep one on the stick.

He walked up to Yuvraj and explained his mistake. “Don’t forget your role. Think, think, think before every move,” he was heard saying.

In a few moments, Yuvraj was surrounded by Mandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh. D’Souza, as usual, once again walked up to them and asked them to take their respective positions, and started a trial game. Two minutes into it, D’Souza tackled Parvinder from behind, and then ran up to him to explain the reason behind the move. “Widen your legs, so that you can avoid such tough tackles. You can’t be so fragile,” the coach advised the ward.

And, as the tournament progresses, these are the small things that the senior coach is making his players understand. There are Indian players like Rupinder Pal Singh who know what it takes to turn things their way. But even then, D’Souza believes that playing a total game will be key to success in the long run. Ask him if retaining the core group has helped them, and D’Souza agrees. “You look at the structure of your team, and plan accordingly. Every team tries to find players who can mix into the structure. That has been a key issue, and we got what we wanted,” he tells Express.

The last few seasons haven’t been all that good for the Delhi outfit, but this time, they have started on a positive note. Sitting on second spot, even the players believe that D’Souza’s ‘total technique’ mantra has worked well for the team.