Chennai, 10th August, 2023: Hockey India today announced a special coaching camp and international matches for the Indian Sub-Junior Men’s and Women’s Team. The coaching camp aims at promoting and developing a strong grassroot structure and providing the sub junior talent with a high performance environment. The camp will see former Indian Hockey Captain Sardar Singh, and former India Women’s Captain Rani taking up the mentorship and Coach’s role.
~ Initiative to focus on developing and promoting grassroot structure ~
The Sub-Junior Men and Women camp will be for 45-50 days and will commence from 21st August, 2023 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela, which has state-of-the-art facilities. The camp will then be followed by international matches in Europe – Belgium and the Netherlands.
A total of 40 players will be selected for each the Sub-Junior Men and Sub-Junior Women camps. The players have been chosen on basis their recent performances in the Hockey India Sub-Junior National Championships.
A qualified coaching staff consisting of coach, two assistant coaches, two physios, two masseuse and a trainer will be accompanying each team.
Talking about the initiative, Hockey India President Padma Shri Dr. Dilip Tirkey said, “We believe it is crucial to induct players in this age group to a programme that is on the same lines of the junior and senior camps that are ongoing in SAI, Bengaluru. Besides this, we are happy to welcome icons of the game – Sardar and Rani – both of whom are accomplished players themselves and have achieved accolades at the highest levels. They will be fabulous mentors for these young players.”
Meanwhile, Hockey India Secretary General Shri Bhola Nath Singh shared his thoughts about the initiative. He said, “I am very happy with the launch of this programme. It is the right step towards developing a hockey culture and is in line with our endeavour to spread hockey across India. It is a great opportunity for the young and aspiring players to work closely with legends of the game. They can learn a lot from them. Through this initiative, we are not only giving players the opportunity to make use of this platform but at the same time, we are also training our support staff. I wish Sardar and Rani the best of luck in their new endeavour.”
Talking about this new innings, Sardar Singh said, “This is a wonderful initiative by Hockey India. It is very important to have a uniform program at the national level for this age group. I have always enjoyed working with youngsters. I look forward to this stint and experience the world-class infrastructure in Rourkela.”
Rani too had similar views as she emphasized on the importance of a strong national program in this age category. She said, “Following the same methods as that of the junior and senior programs is a big step forward in creating a uniform training for grassroots level players, so in the future they won’t find it difficult to adapt when they progress to junior or senior national camps. The playing structure will also be similar to what’s followed by the senior teams so, I believe this camp will be a big step forward in the growth of the sport. All in all, our complete focus will be on the all-round development of sub junior players and our aim will be to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead.”
HOCKEY INDIA TEAM PARTNERS
Odisha (India’s Best Kept Secret) – Major Team Partner
Sports Authority of India (SAI)
Shiv Naresh
About HOCKEY INDIA
HOCKEY INDIA (HI) is the governing body with exclusive mandate to direct and conduct all activities for both men and women’s hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India.
Headquartered in New Delhi, Hockey India was established on 20th May, 2009 and is affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).
Committed to the development of Hockey in the country, Hockey India with the assistance of Sports Authority of India and Department of Sports, Government of India, trains players at sub-junior, junior and senior level. The governing body engages in Coaching the coaches with International Standard certification programs, educates and equips technical officials and umpires to find a foothold in international arena, provides world-class infrastructure and International exposure for the players besides regular international competition. Hockey India has also pioneered in bringing top International hockey events to India such as the FIH Men’s World Cup in 2010 and 2018, FIH Champions Trophy in 2014, FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016 and 2021, FIH Hockey World League Final in 2017. With its vision to popularize the game and constantly promote it, Hockey India brought the Indian Men’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world. Hockey India is also dedicated to getting the Indian Women’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world.
About ODISHA
Odisha – the Eastern State of India – is known for its love for Hockey and over the years it has evolved to be the Global Hub of Hockey. The State successfully hosted the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, followed by the FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha, FIH Olympic Qualifiers Odisha, and FIH Hockey Pro League 2020-21. Odisha has previously hosted the Champions Trophy 2014 and the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017. Odisha also hosted the FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup in 2021.
Kalinga Lancers, the team owned by the State, were the winners in the Hockey India League 2017. Taking a step further towards realising the dream of restoring the glory of Indian Hockey at the global level, the State is sponsoring the Indian Hockey Teams till 2033.
Odisha also hosted the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
