K. ARUMUGAM
Hockey India has recently added former double Olympian defender Birendra Lakra to the fleet of coaches with the Junior Men’s national team. This is a trend with the powers that be in the Indian hockey set up. Earlier Rani Rampal, despite her reluctance, was made coach of an age group team, closely followed with the same status bestowed with another double Olympian Sardar Singh. There was no public record he too wanted to coach, of all, an age group national team straightaway after retirement.
Except PR Sreejesh, who expressed his desire to coach Junior Indian team soon after his methodical decision to bid adieu to his playing career, others including the new incumbent Bijendra Lakra showed any interest in hockey. Not only that. They are neither qualified as a coach nor did they have anything close to coaching any Club, institution or State teams. How can they be straightaway given he job shaping colts?
Is promoting former players to coaching, even as they don’t seem to have any interest, a PR Exercise by the powers that be. Rani Rampal’s case comes to the mind. She wanted to focus on her career. But the coach was not interested in her being in the team. Perhaps she had better choices to make. Even as the legend was making all out efforts to boost her fitness and trying to come back to the team, Hockey India thrust her with U-17 coaching!
It was to the credit of the then newly formed Hockey India that started making difference between players and coaches, that too after a sting of fiascos in faced in its nascent stage, that is when it was running Indian hockey as Adhoc Committee under the umbrella of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)
This policy delivered. India won two successive Olympic bronze out of the last four Olympics it took part under the Hockey India label.
It does not mean this writer is against Indian coaches. The point is prove you are a competent coach by bringing any Club, Institutional or State teams to the forefront. Or at least bring an Academy to the limelight.
To be honest, this was how Pakistan hockey pushed to the crysalys of darkness in which it is in constantly in.
Many professional coaches in India work hard to produce talents at grassroots. Some brought their Academy to the national level, some produced such outstanding players as Sardar Singh, Sreejesh, Birendra Lakra etc.
There were half a dozen players from a solitary Academy was in the pathbreaking Tokyo Olympic team. Its Olympian Surjit Hockey Academy being run the Punjab State Govt.
By brining undeserving former players to national team, they overtly dump all those committed and dedicated coaches. They have spent their lifetime to produce players.
Another serious fall out is, nobody comments badly or analyse properly when their teams fail to achieve set target. Secondly, when the team win pure on law of average, they garner all Govt of India awards!