Indian junior hockey team coach talks about youngsters' performance after moving to the senior team

Harendra Singh

Junior talent always holds the key in providing a proper ‘supply line’ to the senior teams. And it is so imperative that these junior talents are nurtured and groomed so that they can blossom on the big stage once they graduate through the ranks. This is precisely what Indian junior men’s hockey team coach Harendra Singh will be looking to do with the bunch of youngsters so that their transition to the senior team is a smooth one.

Of course, the 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup to be held in India will be Harendra’s biggest focus area over the long-term, but the upcoming Volvo International Tournament will be an opportunity to suss out how these juniors have shaped up for the bigger battles ahead.

Harendra, who took charge of the Indian juniors in April 2014, and has experience of coaching the senior side, is a known hard taskmaster, who lets his work do the talking.

“The one thing I have noticed is that juniors who perform well and later progress to the senior level are expected to create the same performance straightway, which is not fair. It puts undue pressure on them,” Harendra observed. “We should understand that junior and senior hockey is different, where tactics, speed and strengths also vary. In junior hockey youngsters make mistakes which you probably don’t see often in senior hockey.”

“No single player is a star”

The Indian junior team for the Volvo International Tourney has a large chunk of the team that won the 2014 Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia and Harendra knows the balance of the side is more or less taken care of.

“We are sure this squad will be form the base for the one taking part in the the 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup. The boys have worked hard in the camp and I hope they executed all strategies and game plans during the Volvo tournament,” he quipped.

The tall Air India employee believes the Indian juniors haven’t played European teams that often and the Volvo International Tourney will bridge the exposure gap.

“At the 2014 Sultan of Johor Cup England was the lone European side we played but this Volvo event will really help us to get a measure of these teams when we face them in the the 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup. The likes of Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand are the best in the business and this stint will do a world of good to our juniors,” he shared his wisdom.

And the thing one can admire about Harendra is that he never believes in creating ‘stars’.

“For me no single player is a star, all team members are same. A win is a team effort and a defeat is a collective failure. All team members are my star players,” he concluded.