Indians to train without coach!

March 8: The Indian hockey team are faced with hard times. In exactly 11 months, the squad will be vying for a place in the 2012 London Olympics. The season’s first preparatory camp begins in the capital on Thursday, but as of now, there are no signs that a new coach has been decided on.

The ambiguity over the two federations — Hockey India and the Indian Hockey Federation both claiming to be the governing body — has added to the confusion. The sports ministry — the final authority — is clearly in a spin. After the Supreme Court’s order to work in unison with both federations till a final order, an effort to find common ground has come to nought.

On the day, representatives from HI and the IHF held closed-door meetings with the ministry to decide on the probables and coaches for the ensuing season. What followed was laughable.
HI, it is learnt, submitted a list of 48 probables and named Harendra Singh as their candidate for coach. The IHF, meanwhile, had 52 players on their rolls and offered to hire Jude Felix.
Said a ministry source, “We are only going by the court’s order which wants us to take both the federations’ viewpoints and chart a way. It is now for the both the bodies to sit together and come to a conclusion.”

The Indian team last took part in the 2010 Asian Games in November under chief coach Jose Brasa. Soon after, Hockey India appointed the Pargat Singh-led five member committee to hire a new coach, but to no avail. The committee, which interviewed as many as 20 candidates, shot down Harendra’s name after disapproval from players and Singh’s poor track record as a coach. “We do not know how or when Harendra Singh’s name popped up again. All of us present in the initial few meetings were clear that Harendra’s services were not needed,” said a committee member.

Pargat, when contacted, said he was not present during the last two rounds of talks and wasn’t in the know of things. “I have been busy with the Punjab Games,” was all he said, clearly indicative of the mess.

The players are equally clueless. A national level player couldn’t help remark, “We are nothing but monkeys who will dance when asked to,” summing up the situation.