Indian women’s hockey coach Neil Hawgood tells Amit Chaudhary that though his team is consistently improving, more needs to be done. Excerpts
What are the realistic chances of Indian team at the Asian GamesIJ
Twelve months ago we were in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy and we lost 1-2 to Korea in semifinal of the Asia Cup and we ended up beating China in those games. Then we didn’t play the World Cup in the Netherlands. Twelve months ago we were close to doing so, Change is there. It’s not like I am saying we are going to win gold to keep everybody happy. I am just saying (it will be) an eventful month and hopefully we have progressed and life progressed. We should be out and give our best shot at playing in the final.
Any change of plan or strategy for the Asian GamesIJ
Well, we have look at it differently after the Commonwealth Games because the game has shifted to the four quarter hockey. So we are after a different style of play, on a different line and I think we have found what changes we actually have to make. The format has created changes within the squad.
When you talk about improvement, what are the things you look atIJ
The improvement that is there is when we go to the other half of the field we make better decision. We understand that we just can’t go forward and turn the ball. In order to go forward we got to have better plan and better structure to make sure we have better outcomes. Hopefully the four-quarter hockey will help us do that where we get the breaks in the middle of the match and we can talk about what we are doing.
The one month gap between two big events is good enough for the players to recover and re-energise their batteriesIJ
The fact that they are playing after one month is a good thing. The rest of the world when they go back home after a tournament, they play club hockey in their country. When our girls come back, they don’t play club hockey or any hockey. They just sit through the next tournament. India is different. They need back to back tournaments because there is no club structure like the rest of the world. Back to back tournaments good for us.
But there is a need of club system in India.
Yes, I think they need more domestic hockey. When we talk about international competition, we look for about 30 to 40 international hockey games every year. Most of the other players go with having played another 30 to 40 club games in a year. That’s where rest of the world has a bit of an advantage having a competitive domestic structure.
What needs to be done to improve domestic structure in IndiaIJ
I am not sure but something they have done for men through Hockey India league (HIl), that’s a marvelous way. For women’s hockey we need to find an alternative. In the two years that I have been with the team, we haven’t played any international game other than a game or two in the World league. We haven’t played a home test series against anybody. We need to invite countries to play against India which would help encourage women’s hockey.