Indian style is the best Terry Walsh

Sudheendra Tripathi

MUMBAI: It appears that India’s national hockey coach Terry Walsh and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans are on the same page. The two complement each other so well that sometimes it feels that the alliance is unreal. Whether it is unreal, is a different matter. What is real though is the fact that the duo unanimously admits that the revival of Indian hockey cannot happen in just a couple of years.

As Walsh puts it: “It is a real privilege to coach India. Roelant (Oltmans) has done a fabulous job in the past few months and I’m impressed to see just how far the team has progressed in what is really a very short time.”

The Aussie, who arrived in Mumbai from Delhi, felt that India players are unbelievably talented. The fact that Walsh has spent only a couple of days in the camp with the boys and still makes a public statement of this magnitude is a statement in itself.

“I have spent a few days in the camp with the boys. And boy they are talented. The Indian team has something that no other team in the world has. They are simply exceptional,” he said on the sidelines of the Bombay Gold Cup tournament that is being played at the Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd (MHAL) Ground in Churchgate.

When asked to elaborate, Walsh said: “Indians have incredible wrists. They can do wonders with the stick. So yeah, in that sense, they are gifted for sure but they are also very talented. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. Having said that though, there’s still a lot to be done.”

What’s refreshing about Walsh is his ability to see things as they are. No false promises, just a practical approach. “I understand where Indian hockey was and understand where it is now. I also understand how high performance works along with Roelant. It is a process. It takes time to change. How long, is always the big question (in terms of results). Everyone wants results tomorrow. It is not possible. It will probably take around 5 to 7 years to be consistently on the top. To be successful, a lot more than skill is required. It is a culmination of many factors that makes the process work,” Walsh said.

The Aussie, who last visited Mumbai in 1982, insisted that setting and achieving short-term goals is easy, but felt that is not good for the sport in general. “We are looking for consistency and progression over the next four to six years and beyond. I am also glad that Hockey India have made some significant changes in the manner in which they think. SAI too have indicated very clearly that they want progress to be made and understand well that the process takes time,” Walsh said.

When a foreign coach is assigned the task of coaching an Indian team, the one question that is inevitably asked is about the Indian style of hockey. But Walsh insisted that the Indian style of hockey is still the best and probably the most effective. Albeit there is room to include and then develop on a few elements.

“It is again about the process of creating the style that works for Indian hockey and that’s primarily the Indian style. But it must have some elements in defence and attack, knowing what to do in the 99 % time when they don’t have the ball. So if we can fix those pieces of the puzzle, the style of hockey that is most threatening to the rest of the world is the Indian style of hockey,” he concluded.

Clinic for coaches

A clinic for the coaches of MHAL affiliatied units and aspiring coaches of schools and colleges will be held on Sunday, October 27 at 6.00 pm in the MHAL recreation hall.

Terry Walsh, Chief Coach of Indian Men’s Hockey team (Hockey India) will be conducting the coaching session.