New role, same goals

NEW DELHI,

FOUR years ago, he was the man who was expected to set India’s recent dismal Olympic record straight. Less than a month before Athens, he was sent home packing, in between games in Europe. He went back to where he came from, working in the shadows, training youngsters at the Union Academy in Delhi.

Now Rajender Singh is on another mission: posted at the SAI academy in Chandigarh, the man is in charge of the development of their women’s hockey team. The first step was taken when his team — Government Model Senior Secondary School — pumped in 25 goals past a hapless the Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Raigarh (Chattisgarh) in their opening match of the Nehru hockey girls (under17) tournament at Shahbad on Tuesday. Captain Reena Khokhar scored eight of those, Manmeet Kaur scored five, Sandeep Kaur scored three, Monika, Shivani Singh, Gurpreet Kaur and Navdeep Kaur had two each against their names, while Ritu Shah Arya scored one.

But Rajinder Singh is far from happy. “This might be a good beginning. But once we move ahead in the tournament and play against better teams, things will get difficult. A scoreline of 25-0 does not mean this team is something special,” he says bluntly.

Maybe not for someone who has worked with perhaps the most talented Indian men’s line-up in recent times. A while later, though, he admits it is a refreshing difference working with girls. “They have infinite patience,” he says with a laugh. “There are no complaints on the amount or hardship of training. On the flipside though, since I am used to working with boys, the different speeds and reaction times sometimes rankle. But that will come with practice, I guess.” Rajinder took charge just over three months back, and he admits to the problems he has been facing. We have just 14 girls, despite trying hard to get more. And during selections, there is more emphasis on fitness than skills. That makes things more difficult for me, as I have to work much harder on making sure they get the basics right,” he says.

Despite the shortage of time, Rajin der Singh has been able to organise matches for the girls against the better known team from the Shahbad Academy. “Players like Reena, Monika, Shivani Singh and Ritu are talented, they can be in the national team in a couple of years with proper training and exposure,” he says.

But he knows better than to promise anything, having been on the receiving end of an administration that doesn’t believe in continuity. “I hope to get around 40 girls by next year. I can produce at least a couple of talented players for the Indian team. But I can’t say how long I will be here. Tomorrow I might be transferred somewhere else,” he signs off.