All too familiar pattern

There is always an unmistakable pattern that emerges on the eve of major hockey tournaments.

It is an interesting subject for research.

A month or weeks before major tournaments, most of those who work and toil with the team are dispersed as a routine, and new set of people comes to take the charge.

The administrators are excited, their advisors go overboard, together in their anxiety and over-enthusiasm, and to show the world they are concerned and plan hard, they change technical people as if that is a magic wand for teams’ success.

Take the case of Chief coaches, for instance, what we observed before the Athens Olympics strikes squarely on the face. Result giving Rajinder Singh Sr. had to exit, with the sudden entry of Gerrard Rach and Jagbir Singh duo barely three weeks before the Olympics.

This does not restrict to Chief Coach alone, extends to full spectrum. Right from physio, videographer to asst coaches too are hastily chopped and forgotten.

Now the pattern repeats in the women hockey too.

For long it was not so with the women hockey, because of the towering personality of MK Kaushik.

Now, exactly a month before the World Cup, everything tumbled and the all familiar pattern for which the men hockey is symbol of, has lent itself to repeat in women’s domain too.

Original Phyiso Dr. Vikas Dhawan – he was with the team till a couple of months ago – is not with the team that had just left the shores for Argentina where the world hockey will commence this fortnight. An inexperienced young girl-doctor replaced him.

Original videographer Rajinder Singh too had gone a bit earlier.

Assst Coach Vasu for last 7 years not there

Sandeep Somesh, 1998 Asiad goldie, the assistant coach, and Khalid Modi, a junior international, the goalkeeper coach, have gone with the team but their functions are already stolen, at least seems to have, by two new gate-crashers, Pritam and Sandeep Kaur, of course celebrated players of their times, but thorough novices in coaching.

Even the manager Madhu Yadav with the team for the previous three tours are not now with the team — the reasons behind her sacking will throw much light on the Kaushik episode as she is believed to the be the architect of all that is negative with the team. That is of course a different issue.

So, who are going now?

First let me see the set of administrative people going with the team: Its Rupa Saini as manager and Ranjit Gill, a former umpire who is a govt. paid asst; secretary with the IWHF and then now defunct Hockey India. A unique designation is given to the grand lady, that is, logistic manager.

So, Rupa Saini is manager, the another is logistic manager!

The cat is gone, the rats are at their game.

Perhaps she will ensure the sticks and balls of the team reach safely to Rosario! If this is going to be her job, then what job the manager is expected to do?

We are at loss to understand as much as you will be.

If the gossips are to be believed an ever-green world cup hero is also like to go to Rossario to observe technical aspects of the girls game, that is, to evaluate their performance.

This really leaves me to wonder what then the role of other two managers. The fact of the matter is, manager is going as Spy and the other women as the Spy-in-Chief.

The spying is also a complex issue.

With so many assistant coaches going, there is every possibility each one is interested in spying the other than doing what is expected of them. A rat race for who is chief coach has already commenced. So, its busy time for them too. These all make up clear case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Those who are behind the selection, Sports Authority of India or anybody else, have not done something different but only followed the pattern we all have been watching with alarming regularity — with enough boredom.

The real people who worked hard so far are sidelined. Kaushik worked day in and day out for the last three years before a section of girls staged a coup of sort that paved way for the tradition of sudden mushrooming of coaches and managers.

If the team wins, the neo-team can claim they have done the wonders, if not, they can easily blame the former set of people!!

The stupid show is going on for the past so many years because the public doesn’t care. Not many might even be not aware the whole drama is being staged at the expense of your and my tax money.

Kindly remember one ticket alone cost not less than Rs.1.3 lac, and the punch of jokers have to stay there for 25 days, as the team goes ten days in advance; and then each has to be paid daily allowances and boarding and lodging expenses.

India will be the rare country to spend so much on free-loaders of this kind.

Neither the top talking Hockey India or equally egoistic Indian Women Hockey Federation is funding a bit.

Every Tom, Tick and Harry is going on government expense.

This is the irony of the whole thing.

By mindset, we are designed to be mediocre – at least in sports sphere