Man of honour Baldev yet to be recommended by IWHF for Drona

Chandigarh

HIS LIST of achievements astounds. From giving the country two dozen women hockey players to bringing home around 30 international medals, including the Asian and Commonwealth Games medals, Baldev Singh has scripted one of the biggest success stories in Indian hockey – developing a 50,000-population town of Shahbad into a nursery of world-class players. But the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF) is yet to realise his worth.

For, it has yet to recommend his name for the Dronacharya Award, the highest sporting award for coaching in the country .

Generally the federation’s recommendations depend on two aspects — either the coach asks the federation to recommend his/her name or the federation does it on its own.

“Why should I request anybody to forward my case for the award? If the federation really fells that my work is worth being recommended, they should have done so on their own. If they feel I did nothing, its okay because I am not going to beg for the award. Moreover, what I am doing is in front of everyone, so why should I go around showing my credentials,” says Baldev Singh.

IWHF secretary-general Amrita Bose has a bizarre take on the subject. “We only recommend names of coaches who are with us in the national camps. And both of our national coaches are Dronacharya awardees. I don’t want to talk on this issue anymore.”

But even though the IWHF has so blatantly ‘trashed’ his work, Baldev’s employers, Haryana Sports Department, have recommended his name this time around. “What Baldev is doing for the sport is unmatched. Winning the award is another thing… he is the real-life Dronacharya for the Shahbad girls,” says Haryana Sports Director Sudhir Mohan.

And the girls vouch for that. “What we are today is because of Baldev sir. He is like a father figure. He should get his due but whether the government gives him the award or not, he will always be our Dronacharya,” says one of his students.