Response from players has been terrific, says Nobbs

The only grouse Michael Nobbs has at the National men’s hockey camp at the Sports Authority of India here is that the internet speed is poor.

“It took 10 minutes to set up the connection,” he complained light-heartedly, “and 15 more to open an e-mail on my laptop.” There is little else, however, to suggest that things appear less than sanguine to the new chief coach of the Indian team.

On Tuesday, five days into the month-long camp, the 88-member group was put through its first set of practice matches.

“So far we have been mostly testing fitness levels, speed, and agility: the baseline fitness of the players,” Nobbs explained.

“Today, we have just started playing games. This is just to see who’s good and who’s not. The group would be whittled down to 49 in four or five days time,” he added.

“We’re going to play more games. Once we’ve got them down to 49 players, we will start with specific coaching. Right now, I don’t know the names of even 10 players.”

The Australian said he couldn’t predict the success (or lack thereof) of the Olympic qualification process just yet.

“There are roughly 195 days (between the end of the camp and the beginning of the pre-Olympic qualifiers): not a lot at all. But it’s still far too early to tell. We’re changing the style; it’s how quickly we can pick it up. The response from the players has been terrific.”

He expressed satisfaction with conditions at the venue. “I think the association has made a good choice in Bangalore. The facilities are good; the climate is excellent.”

Former India captain Mohammad Riaz is one of four assistant coaches with the team. “He (Nobbs) is just observing everyone,” he said.

“He is watching them to gain some idea. Everything is going fine.”

Nobbs also revealed that the plan to create an online database was on track.

“We’ve got the player profiles with us now. We will upload it and start updating. So if you’re a fan of Gurbaksh Singh, you can find out what he’s doing.”