News for 18 June 2020
All the news for Thursday 18 June 2020
Adaptability vital on return: Hockey coaches
Overseeing training camps in Bengaluru, Reid and Marijne explain the importance of planning first & adjusting later.
By Swaroop Swaminathan
India women’s hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne (L) & his men’s counterpart Graham Reid
CHENNAI: “Eternal vigilance,” as the saying goes, “is the price of liberty”. Those are the exact words Graham Reid uses when a question about the risk involved in playing hockey without a vaccine is put to him. He reckons that there is a risk involved but the risk isn’t any higher than when a person goes out to buy milk in the morning. “To be honest we all are taking risks every day with this disease,” the men’s chief coach says.
It’s been around two weeks since both the senior national teams started training and the Australian says the next six months will be the most challenging in terms of dealing with the uncertainties with respect to the calendar and the evolution of the coronavirus. “’We do a lot of planning for ‘What If’ scenarios. What happens if this happens and this doesn’t’ for example. It certainly makes the process more time-consuming but there is a vigilance and thoroughness in it that you may not necessarily do in more certain times.
The further out the timeframe, the easier it is. The next 6 months are the toughest as these will vary a lot according to region/state/country. It is important though for the athletes to have something to aim at and that has been our major objective. Setting small milestones and giving them something to aim at in the short to medium term,” Reid says.
In the short term, the 56-year-old wants to ensure his wards maintain a certain level of fitness. “I had a meeting with the players this morning and I told them that I have been proud of the way they have stayed positive and maintained a good level of fitness and strength throughout this period. I also explained to them that we have been in a unique situation of going through something like this together and that will stand us in good stead for any pressure situations into the future.”
Women’s team’s coach, Sjoerd Marijne, also sings from the hymn sheet. “I am proud of the team and the players on staying strong through this period and we have been only looking at basic routines to maintain fitness levels and stay positive,” he says. He also bats for making plans on the go and making adjustments in the future, if necessary. “We have to plan and we can’t wait and see what’s happening,” the Dutchman says. “We make more plans and adjust if necessary.”
Marijne is also of the opinion that he doesn’t see any harm in restarting hockey without a vaccine in mass production. “There is more contact with soccer and they are already playing. So I don’t see any problem in that (restarting). It’s important to follow the guidelines and be aware and mindful of your surroundings.”
New Indian Express
From hockey poster boy to forlorn star
Tony Mariadass
Striker Faizal Saari hopes to be a talent scout or play abroad after being dropped from the national hockey team.
PETALING JAYA: Crest fallen Malaysian hockey star Faizal Saari who was controversially dropped from the national squad is a sad and lonely man.
The 29-year-old poster boy of hockey for several years now shuns the limelight. He avoids the media.
He is still devastated over his exclusion from the “Speedy Tigers” in February, and the continuing criticism by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).
Faizal, who has 247 national caps and 170 goals to his credit since 2009, was in the centre of fire by MHC president Subahan Kamal and coach Roelant Oltmans during a webinar on June 13.
Hockey star Faizal Saari, a sad and lonely figure these days.
Responding to a fan’s question why Faizal was omitted from the squad, Roelant inferred indifferent attitude and playing for money.
Subahan interjected, saying superstars had in the past been dropped with no reason given.
On Monday, Faizal, poured his heart out to his former coach K Dharmaraj over the latest MHC reproach.
Dharmaraj told FMT that Faizal was unhappy over the continuing attacks by MHC and wanted to be left alone.
He said the Terengganu player had put behind his omission from the team to the now cancelled Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
Also dropped were his brother Fitri and national skipper Sukri Mutalib, Nabil Fikri Mohd Noor and Joel van Huizen for different reasons which Roelant did not disclose.
Dharmaraj said Faizal was keen on being a talent scout and had approached the Terengganu Hockey Club (THT) to be one.
“He is a complete player and his experience will be invaluable to younger players,” he said.
Dharmaraj, close confidante of Faizal Saari.
Dharmaraj said Faizal was also considering playing abroad and had even offered to assist him coach in Indonesia.
Faizal was a key member of the 2009 Under-18 Asia Cup and 2014 national teams that Dharmaraj coached.
“Faizal might have been immature and indisciplined as a younger player, but he has grown out of it over the last two years,” said Dharmaraj.
He said Faizal apologised to him for his conduct as a young player.
“I told him the bright city lights might have got the better of him, but more importantly he rose above it to repent and become a top striker,” he added.
In the meantime, Faizal lives with his wife in Ipoh and helps his mother with her food business when he goes to Terengganu.
Free Malaysia Today
Online coaching opens up new opportunities to connect
Laura del Colle has embraced the growth in online coaching as a means to improve accessibility to hockey coaching courses. Although it is a method of course delivery that has been thrust on her, it is a method that she has adopted wholeheartedly, both in her role as a Coach Educator with the FIH Academy and her own private coaching business.
Del Colle is a silver-medal winning Olympian. The 37-year-old was part of Las Leonas squad that won silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games. As a coach and physical education lecturer, she pours the same amount of passion, experience and knowledge into her coaching tuition as she put into her playing career.
But in the 14 years that Del Colle has been coaching, the past few months have led to a very different and sometimes challenging way of doing things. Back in April she produced an online course called Santander IE Best Practices in Digital Education, with the aim of helping people to transition to a digital educational environment. At the same time, she took her own goalkeeping academy Arqueros Okey online. Aspiring goalkeepers trained with Del Colle via a real-time online course.
It is the accessibility of the online coaching courses that has excited Del Colle. Suddenly it is possible to communicate with people across the globe without the time and expense of getting them all into one place. And, as Del Colle explains, that often leads to very different conversations.
“In my opinion, with an online course you can connect coaches, players and goalies from all over the world by video conference. By sharing knowledge and experience it is really useful for the hockey family. It is another tool to connect different countries, to teach and learn about goalkeeping all around the world.”
In her latest FIH Academy course, Del Colle led a workshop that encompassed all the continents. The workshop was delivered in English and Spanish and attendees came from Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa, England, Malaysia, India, Ireland, Hong Kong, Belgium, Spain, Uruguay and Argentina. With head coaches, current players and specialist goal keeper coaches all attending, Del Colle says it was a “wonderful experience”.
On the course – Introduction to Coaching Young Goalkeepers – Del Colle covered areas such as: the core skills of a young goalkeeper; the basic principles and fundamentals of goalkeeping; and how to create practice sessions to develop the core skills and techniques.
While Del Colle is emphatic that practical coaching is an absolute must in the development of players and coaches, she believes that the way forward is a blend of online and practical coaching. She says, the beauty of providing some of the education via an online tool is that it opens up the courses to a much wider cohort of participants, creating a new level of connection between different countries and cultures all around the world.
FIH site
USA Field Hockey Accepting Applications for U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Field Hockey is currently accepting applications for the position of U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach. The successful candidate will be the head of the USWNT program, managing the development of national team athletes and leading the team to compete at major events including the 2020-22 FIH Hockey Pro League, 2021 Pan American Cup and 2022 World Cup.
The successful candidate will be responsible for developing a coaching and administrative support team and will work closely with the Director of Coach Education and Senior Manager of Coaching and Performance to ensure that coaches and elite athletes entering the program are aligned with the organizational coaching and athlete development philosophy and principles of play.
Click here for the full job description or to apply for the USWNT Head Coach position.
USFHA media release
Hockey India announces application system for coach, technical staff
Hockey India on Wednesday announced an open application and registration process for coaches and technical officials across India.
A web-link will be provided to candidates wanting to submit their applications to the respective Hockey India Member Units to register as a coach or technical official.
Once a candidate submits the application, he or she would require the approval of the concerned Hockey India registered Member Unit (MU). Once approved, the application would require the approval of the concerned member unit.
'Fantastic idea'
“It’s a fantastic idea to introduce an open application and registration platform for coaches and technical officials. Anybody and everybody will be able to submit their application through the Hockey India Member Unit Portal,” Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, president, Hockey India, said.
“I am sure that the open application and registration platform will make the registration process a lot smoother and as a result, Hockey India and its Member Units will have a great opportunity to work with coaches and technical Officials across the country,” he added.
The technical officials and coaches, who are currently active for at least one recent year and possess a Hockey India identity card, would be pre-registered on the Hockey India MU portal.
Sportstar
Hockey coach Ramesh Parameswaran applies for Dronacharya award
Ramesh Parameswaran watches the Indian team practice during the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament in September, 1995. - VINO JOHN
Ramesh Parameswaran, a former assistant coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, has applied for the prestigious Dronacharya award. While Hockey India nominated B. J. Kariappa and Romesh Pathania for the award, Parameswaran decided to apply for it through Hockey Karnataka.
“It has been a long, exciting and satisfying journey for me from a junior player to national coach. I have had my share of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, but overall, a most rewarding experience which I treasure,” the 70-year-old said.
“I invested a lot of time, money and energy besides sacrifices, but at the end of the day, it has been worth it all,” added the experienced coach who has been mentoring young talent at the Karnataka Hockey Academy since 2015.
Parmeswaran’s association with hockey began when he represented Mysore in the Junior National Championship in 1969. He first represented the Indian team in 1978 when he was part of the team that won a silver medal in the Asian Games in Bangkok.
After joining the Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore, Parmeswaran took to coaching in 1985 when he trained the Karnataka team for the senior National championship. A decade later, he was appointed assistant coach of the Indian team, a role he performed until 2008 when he took charge of the Indian Oil squad. His stint with IOCL was very successful as the team won many national-level tournaments.
His decision to apply for the Dronacharya award has received commendation from former players such as Vasudevan Baskaran, captain of the 1980 Olympic gold-winning team; former national coach M. K. Kaushik; Dilip Tirkey and Ashish Ballal, among others.
Sportstar
"At the heart of everything is making hockey more accessible for children in inner city areas"
Rhys Smith Hockey Inner City
Alongside continuing to represent his country on the international stage, Rhys Smith has another burning desire – to make hockey accessible to as many people as possible.
That’s why in 2019 he founded Hockey Inner City in order to take our sport into areas where it traditionally isn’t played, areas where Smith himself grew up not that long ago.
Less than a year later he has already run an after school club at his old primary school (Immanuel and St Andrew CE in Streatham), formed a relationship with Spencer Lynx HC and got a major hockey brand on board to provide kit for the children.
“There was no one specific moment where Hockey Inner City formed,” the 22-year-old explained during the latest episode of Inside The Circle: The Podcast.
“The main inspiration for it was my experience at university and seeing a lack of people from my background; inner city areas. That frustrated me because it wasn’t down to lack of ability, it was all down to lack of opportunity. That represented hockey. All of those thoughts coming into one formed Hockey Inner City.
“The main thing was making hockey more accessible. Giving people the chance to experience it, to play it, to find the love, to experience a sport I’ve loved playing ever since I started it. A lot of my friends who went to Whitgift from inner city areas we all love hockey, we play it on the street and it’s something I wanted everyone to be able to do.”
Smith never played hockey himself during his time at Immanuel and St Andrew – it was only when he went to Whitgift School, having received a bursary, that he was first introduced to the game.
After rapidly rising through the ranks to make his senior international debut aged just 21, his initial plans for Hockey Inner City were to give children from inner city areas the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.
But as time has gone on he’s realised that actually for some just being able to play a fun sport with their friends is the most important thing that Hockey Inner City can offer.
“When I first started it, I was under the impression that I wanted to try and make everyone as good as they can be, get them representing their county and region; that was my ambition,” the Wimbledon HC midfielder said.
“But what’s been really great is that understanding that some people just love playing hockey because it gives them the opportunity to be outside playing sport with their friends.
“I’ve loved experiencing the different reasons as to why people play hockey which I kind of forgot. Doing it full-time as a professional you forget that people just play hockey because they love the sport.
“They’re not trying to be a professional, they just love playing it with their friends and it’s something they look forward to at the end of the day, especially in school.”
As Hockey Inner City approaches it’s one year anniversary, it’s fantastic to see what Smith has already achieved having started it from scratch.
With the current global situation he’s unsure as to how the project will develop but he knows that, whatever happens and whichever route they take, Hockey Inner City will have one focus at the core of every decision.
“Whatever direction we choose to go in, whether that be partnerships with other clubs or running community sessions, at the heart of everything we do will be wanting to make hockey more accessible for children, giving that equal opportunity for people from inner city areas to play hockey because it’s not a sport that’s very popular within those areas.”
You can find out more about Hockey Inner City by clicking here to visit their website. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Subscribe to Inside The Circle: The Podcast to hear this episode in full and catch up on any others that you may have missed:
Great Britain Hockey media release
You’re Booked: A Forgotten Legend
Ashley Morrison
Three time Olympic Hockey Gold medallist Balbir Singh recently passed awayat the age of 96. There was an outpouring of emotion when he passed away but to many in India he lived a life in which his achievements were never given the acknowledgement that they deserved. This book tries to explore the reasons why that was the case. Why a country forgot one of its greatest icons. Balbir Singh lived through the bloody partition of India and was a key part of their continued hockey success afterwards. He was also the Team Manager when India won to date its only Hockey World Cup in 1975. A Forgotten Legend not only tells the tale of Balbir Singh’s life but also the evolving of India as an economic powerhouse and how events impacted on his life. 