new coach on the block
Harender Singh, coach of the Indian hockey team, shares his vision with SS Shreekumar “Have faith in us and give us time to deliver. If we don’t, we’ll walk away. No coach, foreign or Indian, can produce results overnight. No one has a magic wand.”
the turmoil and confusion in Indian hockey hasn’t affected coach Harender Singh. Given the reins by the ad hoc committee now formed to run the affairs of the game after MK Kaushik first accepted and then declined the offer to coach the men’s national team, Harender is sweating it out at the ongoing camp in the Sports Authority of India (south centre) campus. And he is not really concerned about anything except focussing on the job on hand. In a chat with maxsport, Harender, the man entrusted with the task of reviving Indian hockey , spoke his mind on various issues concerning the game. Excerpts from an interview: On the ongoing camp It’s going on very well and the boys are working really hard. On the facilities provided at the camp I have no cause for complaints, neither do any of the boys. The ad hoc committee has given instructions to SAI and we have been provided with all that we want. I am happy with the arrangements made for us. On his immediate goal Well, there is no immediate goal as there is no big tournament in the near future. The emphasis now is on fitness and discipline. Tests in physiology and bio-mechanics were conducted to assess the fitness of players. It will be the responsibility of the players to maintain their fitness over a period of time. On what the players lack Actually , there is a lot of talent among the players. But we must have faith in them. We must give them enough opportunities and time to get better and improve. The results will follow. What we do is we put pressure on them for results in the short term. That is the problem, otherwise, the boys lack nothing in terms of skill. Fitness is something that will have to be looked into. On where the problem lies It lies in our lack of planning, both short term and long term. If one cures that, most problems will not arise. Whether it is the players, the coach or mediapersons, everybody must be aware of what we are doing and where we are heading. Planning has not been our strong point, but I hope it will be so from now on. On the importance of appointing a foreign coach for India hockey We can always learn more about penalty corner conversions, goalkeeping, new fitness training methods etc from foreign coaches. Otherwise, Indian coaches are equally good. As I have said earlier, you must have faith in us and give us time to deliver. If you don’t, we will walk away as we are professionals. No coach, foreign or Indian, can produce results overnight. Look at Pakistan. They had foreign coaches but where are they today? Many more such examples exist and a foreign coach does not come with a magic wand. At the same time, there is no harm in learning, for learning is a continuous process and no one can say ‘I know everything’. On how many Indian players can measure up to the best in the game I don’t want to name any single Indian player. I can say that there are many who are fine players and are not in anyway inferior to players in the best hockey-playing countries. Our players need to be fine-tuned and my job right now is to evaluate them in every respect and enable them to improve in all areas. We’ll have to take things forward from here. On junior Indian players Right now, I don’t want any one from the junior team in the camp. We have the junior World Cup next year and I want these players to concentrate on training under AK Bansal. Clubbing the juniors with the seniors and then moving them back will create problems of adjustment. In any case, I get feedback from Bansal. The senior World Cup is in 2010 and we will have enough time to bring in juniors who are ready to be inducted into the senior team. That way , we can give them the right platform to graduate to higher ranks. On the future of Indian hockey India will develop into a strong force again. All we need is time, faith and opportunities. The Rest will automatically follow. On how much time he give for that A four-year period, with the necessary support, should be good enough to produce the desired results. And that’s what I want.
shreekumars@hotmail.com