SK Uthappa wears multiple hats in the team

One of the seniors and a key member of the Kalinga Lancers in the ongoing Hockey India League, SK Uthappa wears several hats at a time. And he relishes each of them fully.

As a player on field, his feats are quite visible. Like the deflection he made off Moritz Fuerste’s gem of feed that gave his team full points against Uttar Pradesh Wizards on Friday.

But off the field, the Karnataka player Uthappa is also simultaneously playing the role of a translator and a coach for his juniors.

For the multi-tasking he does, Uthappa has already garnered praises from all quarters including skipper Moritz Fuertse, who has pinned lot of hopes on him.

“Many players in our team have difficulty in understanding nuances in English. There is a huge gap the way things are explained between English and Hindi. So, I contribute to help ease out things for some of team mates”.

“The coach says something and I translate it to the guys. In the process, I get to learn a lot. It is always good to try to teach someone. You improve a lot personally. It’s like double-coaching for me – I get it from the coach and give it to the boys. That is how, I am the translator and coach for the junior boys,” says SK Uthappa.

On field, of course, Uthappa has a huge responsibility to guide the team.

“Since I am one of the seniors in the team, my job is to maintain the structure. On the pitch, I try to keep the motivation on and try to remain as long as I can, so there is less rotation,” he says.

Kalinga Lancers will next play against Dabang Mumbai in its last home match on Sunday.

“The crowd in Bhubaneswar is amazing. We now hope to gift them happiness by winning the last home match.”