There was excitement both ways when Harendra Singh returned from his stint in the USA to take over as Indian women’s hockey team head coach earlier this year. For the players, it was joyous to see a familiar face. For Harendra, it was ‘ghar wapsi’ — a chance to work again with the national setup after a while. But it was clear to him in the first few days that there was a need for a rebuild. After the highs of finishing 4th at the Tokyo Olympics, the women’s team failed to even qualify for Paris 2024. Harendra’s first thought was to press the reset button. He identified fitness as a primary focus area. A military-style boot camp was organised at the Indian Naval Academy in Kannur, Kerala late in July that included activities like boat-pulling, obstacle course, night camps and tugs of war. And now, ahead of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar starting November 11, Harendra believes a new cycle must begin. The Indian Express caught up with the head coach for an interview.
Excerpts below:
Q: How were your first few days returning as head coach?
We knew India deserved to win a medal at the Paris Olympics but unfortunately they didn’t qualify. Their shoulders were down, they were not confident, the vibes in the team were not great. It’s obvious when you dream of something for four years and don’t achieve it, four years of preparation from all stakeholders go haywire.
So we decided, whatever happened, we cannot go back. Let’s begin a new journey. Let’s focus on 2028. We will start from zero. I also reminded them that 1928 was the first time Indian men’s team ever won a hockey gold at the Olympics, so exactly 100 years later, let’s recreate history by winning a medal. That’s why our Whatsapp group’s name is Mission 2028. In 2016 when we won the Junior World Cup, we had created a similar group like that in 2014. It’s to make the players think that they want to be part of this legacy. For me, this is about every second of every day for four years. I want these girls to dream, not when they are sleeping, but when their eyes and their minds are open.
Could you tell us about the camp at the Indian Naval Academy?
People in the army, and navy know how to work to maximise their output with limited resources. That is one of the experiences I wanted to give the players. It’s not every time you will get what you want. Are you ready to mentally prepare yourself for that? Some of the exercises we did helped both the players and the staff.
Something like staying awake the whole night, for example. And when you are fatigued, how mentally strong are you in making decisions? The bonding between players also really improved after the camp.
How did the players react to the camp?
Initially, they were a little apprehensive, because they had never done anything like this. As they say, you don’t know how to swim and someone throws you in the ocean. One thing they learned was that they had to help each other. Frankly, the first two days it was hard for them. But once they received their specially designed commando-style uniforms for the camp, they started moving around in it, I could see their personalities change totally. (smiles)
During the Pro League this year, you said you wanted the team to play ‘Indian masala hockey’.
That’s our strength. If you see the men’s team as well, the whole world gets scared to face the Indian-style masala hockey. What I mean by that is a good mix of individual stick skills combined with sharp give-and-go.
If we get this combination right, there’s no looking back. I don’t want to set my team up defensively. Yes, defensive structure is important, but from the word go, the attacking mindset should be there. More circle entries, more shots, more goals. I always believed, the Indian and Pakistani ‘masala’, you cannot take that out of hockey. I believe the kind of hockey we used to play 30 years or so ago has come back now, and most teams play that way. But just that the speed and fitness levels, along with penalty corner defences have improved a lot along with that. A good mix of all this is what makes hockey exciting.
Could you tell us about the thought process for selecting the ACT squad? A few senior players like Vandana Katariya are absent.
We are in the process of building a new team. Vandana is not injured, she is so vastly experienced and is still a big motivation for the group. I wanted to give youngsters a chance in the tournament so that they get used to the pressure, especially playing in front of a home crowd.
I want the young players to not forget the process in pressure situations. They need to remember ‘When I get the ball, I will make a good pass, I will receive it well and make the right move by staying in the moment, not be bothered by the outcomes.’
What were your learnings from the Pro League?
The top most priority was fitness, strength, and speed, which the day we landed in Bangalore after the Pro League, we started working on. We have highly skilled players, that’s our strength. If you have skill and speed, the tactical part can come after that, which we are working on now.
The feedback from the girls is also that when they are fully fit, they feel capable of challenging any team in the top six. After our work over the last few months, they are feeling light, they are feeling energetic, they feel they have the power in their legs to really run hard. In the league, we saw how they improved from the first game to last, you could see they were close to winning games by the end. So if in two weeks we can improve that much, imagine what we can do in four years, that was my message to them.
