Hindustan Times: Junior Hockey World Cup: India juniors buy into coach’s philosophy

Dial C seems to be the new mantra for success in junior India hockey. Harendra Singh, chief coach of the team gearing up for the World Cup here, is instilling belief in everything C — cool, calm, composed, change in hockey, change in history, change in life, etc.

Starting with five Cs in the first camp, Harendra kept handing the side fresh five or six Cs in every fresh camp held in the last two years. The total has now gone up to 31. “That’s all for the side so far. Now I want the boys to give me back the 32 Cs (which means champions),” Harendra told HT on Wednesday.

“It’s my formula of coaching and I believe there are so many other things from your life which you can apply for success even in hockey. I keep telling the boys hockey is an intelligent man’s game, otherwise it would have been called soccer. So, use your mind and not heart for success.”

The tournament kicks off on Thursday.

“You have to play just 70 minutes of hockey in a day, but you need to prepare for 22 hours and 50 minutes,” Harendra said.

His ‘special guru gyan’ involving spiritual discourse is a hit with his players, and they are following them. The team, which has been together for more than two years, starts the day with a spiritual session by Harendra. “It’s become a habit for us for the last two years and we have been enjoying it as it gives immense strength to do well in the game as well as in our lives,” captain Harjeet told HT.

“Karm kiye ja, phal ki iccha mat kar (do your job, don’t expect results) is what we learn every day,” added Harjeet.

“In the beginning, we found it was like a routine lecture by the coach, but soon realised how important such discourses are for us,” said Harjeet, who was adjudged the Upcoming Player of the Year by Hockey India this year.