Radical changes needed to revamp Army hockey

Army teams of the past were backbones of Indian hockey. It no longer is. Nowadays, Army teams don’t produce many players to the national side, though their pool is not dried up. However, it does not mean the army has lesser number of players or teams compared to their hey days of 50s to 70s; even they have two turfs on their own.

Army men take a while to answer as to how many teams they have at present as we witnessed with Gopal Chand, Army Red’s coach of many years.

Maratha Light Infantry, Signals, ASC, MEG, ESC, BEG Roorkee, Army Red, Army Green, various centralized teams of Army and the list goes on.

No wonder, Army teams have been a deciding factor in any given domestic competition, though its no longer the case with the international sides.

Army is among the very few institutions to have spent Rs.2.5-3 crore to get two private synthetic turf -one at MEG center, Bangalore and another at Danapur.
stick2hockey.com spoke to Gopal during the ongoing Karnataka super league. Gopal, 46, a NIS coach has been into Hockey coaching for the Army for over 12 years now.

He feels present days stars from its ranks Sunil Ekka, Paramjit Singh, Suresh Kumar, Elizel Lakra – and very recently, Padma Shri Ignace Tirkey, S V Sunil and Dhananjay Mahadik, do proud to the hockey tradition of India. He emphasizes the strength of Army teams lie on its tough training regime.

“Rigours of army men are seen to be believed”, he emphasizes the tough regimen being practiced at the MEG Center, Bangalore.

“It’s a tough daily life for the Army men. They follow weekly training programs. A typical day starts with almost 4 hours of fitness training and ends with another session of 4 hours in the evening. Strict training schedules make sure that almost all trainees come out high on Fitness, Speed and Endurance.

However, on strategic part army doesn’t inspire as they seem to depend on lateral sources for feedback. Gopal is candid: “I am in touch with the Bangalore coaches who have been at the national level, like Sabu Varkey, Ramesh Parmeshwaran, etc. Our own international stock including Dhanajay Mahadik, also chips in with their knowledge they got being with the national camp”.

In fact when Gopal took his team to Delhi to witness the World Cup; he and his Army team mates were taken aback completely watching the fitness and pace of the players from hockey powers.

“Honestly speaking, we learnt a lot being at the World Cup. Sicne them we implemented a few techniques. Reduction in the number of scoops because by doing that you lose the ball, ball rotation amongst the full backs, retain the ball possession even when the gap formation is little, how to receive the ball when one is running, passing the balls in the gaps when Man to Man marking has been implemented by the opponents,” says Gopal, reflecting on his experiences in the World Cup.

Army doesn’t really have a hockey specific budget, but it hardly matters as training goes on, the rest is taken care by the already established systems.

Army Red finished third in the recently concluded Nehru Cup in Delhi. They are the top teams of the ongoing Super Division Hockey League in Bangalore.

Gopal rates his wards S Armugam, Mukesh Lakra, S Ali, Renial and Rajesh Kumar as stars in the making.

It remains to be seen how many of them make a big cut, and prove his coach is right in his hope and assessment.

However, the Army think tank have to really do an introspection as to why their hockey has fallen, and come up with a master plan to reposition hockey as their prime sport in fitting with their great tradition.

For, Indian hockey needs Army talent of yore.