Hindustan Times: Meet Dronacharyas who help women players script success
By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal
They are Dronacharyas of Madhya Pradesh who have been empowering women through sports by making them (players) aware about their physical and mental strengths and raising their confidence levels.
These coaches honed the skills of international players including international hockey player Vandana Katariya, captain of Indian women’s hockey team, which lifted the Asian Championship trophy, and international women cricket team player Nuzhat Parween who was included in the national team as wicket keeper.
Meet hockey coaches Paramjeet Singh and YS Chauhan and cricket coach Aril Anthony.
Madhya Pradesh State Hockey Academy coach Paramjeet Singh has trained many international hockey players including six players of the national women’s hockey team, which recently brought laurels for the country. In grooming these international-level players, Singh concentrated on two things — physical and mental strengths.
“Compared to boys, these girls still have to face a lot of problem to reach the international level. To remain mentally stable is necessary and I focus more on it,” he added.
Talking about international hockey player Navdeep Kaur, Singh said, “Navdeep had almost given up after her family started searching a suitable partner for marriage. She was under immense pressure but education gave her a second chance to continue playing hockey. The idea of marriage deferred when she took admission in bachelor in physical education courses. I instilled in her new zeal and confidence that helped her in finding a place in the national team.”
Like Navdeep, every girl passed through such kind of pressure so I always try to help the players deal with such pressure, he said. “When the academy started, I had promised myself I won’t let any players of mine give up under any mental and family pressures. I am happy that I am able to fulfill my promise,” he added.
Paramjeet, who has trained other players like Preeti Dubey and Sushila Chanu, says he feels proud when his trainees play at the international level and win medals for the country.
YS Chauhan, central regional centre, Bhopal, Sports Authority of India (SAI), who imparted training to national women’s hockey team captain Vandana Katariya, said to empower girl players, he always try to raise their confidence levels by focusing on their strengths.
“When I saw Vandana for the first time in Lucknow, I noticed that she was good at technique of shooting off wrong foot and reverse shoot. I asked her to focus on it. She strengthened her natural skills and I am happy that today she is one of the top hockey players,” said Chauhan.
This is true that coaches have to handle female players with more care and sensibility because of their soft nature and society’s undue pressure on them. But once it is done, nobody can stop them from achieving their goals, he said, adding now we will soon start SAI centre for excellence in Bhopal for international players so that they could win more medals for the country.
Anthony, who has not only developed international player like Ishwar Pandey but also turned Nuzhat Parween, a cricketer from Singrauli, into a real gem. Nuzhat was was included in the national women’s cricket team as wicket keeper.
As a coach, Aril focuses on developing a never-say-die spirit in the players as he says he failed to instill this spirit in himself while playing at the state level.
“Nuzhat had come to Rewa first time to play for the Rewa division. She was physically fit and passionate for sports,” said Aril. Besides techniques and skills, Nuzhat’s high spirit and confidence helped her achieve success in a short span of time. “Nuzhat covered the distance from a district player to a national player in just five years,” he added.
“I left my game because I lost all hopes after not getting a chance to play for the state team but I managed to keep their (players’) hope alive, which I feel is the reason behind their success,” said Anthony.