The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Former Olympians discuss future course of action

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Monday, Apr 14, 2008
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Former Olympians discuss future course of action

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: Former Olympians called for a sincere rebuilding process to help Indian hockey regain its prominent position in the world order. The call came on Monday during a discussion session organised by the Bengal Hockey Association, which was attended by former Olympians Dhanraj Pillai, Pargat Singh and Ashok Kumar, among others.

Pillai welcomed the appointment of Australian Ric Charlesworth as the expert to work with the Indian men’s team. “Ric is a good coach. Now we have to see how he contributes in getting India back to playing the Olympics,” Pillai, who also formalised a deal with BHA, said. The former Indian captain said that in order to get over the crisis following the failure to qualify for the Olympics, the first job of the administration would be to motivate the players to see the team performing well again.

Reorganise

Pargat Singh said he felt this would be an opportune moment to reorganise the whole set up.

“It is time that disciplined and sincere people played a proactive role to set Indian hockey on to a fresh and positive start,” Pargat said. “It is not the end of the road, we have to draw a proper plan and implement it sincerely,” he added.

Pargat Singh said the Premier Hockey League was a good concept but it had not met with much success as the teams playing in it did not have an organisational back-up that would have helped in generating a good support base.

Ashok Kumar said the Indian Hockey Federation ought to revert to the former Olympians, who could help bring back the levels of excellence that is lacking in Indian performance.

“Our coaching system has restricted individual flair by stressing too much making passes. The coaching pattern post 1976 has been too defensive, and we need to change this,” he said.

The Olympians also participated in a ‘Walk for Hockey’ earlier in the day. Almost 4000 players, officials, students and administrators took part in the two-km walk.

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