We may experience an "ACCIDENTAL" KPS Gill !

Yes, that's right, we may have another accidental KPS Gill in Indian hockey and he/she may end up like Gill, empty-handed. We experienced the dictatorship of Gill back in those days and now it's happening again. Looks like the Golden Days of Hockey India are over. Yes, people appreciated the authorities and individuals when they made the right decision but now they see the criticism they outburst themselves on social media, but they are not facing the media.

The mishandling trend of the coaches is still on: The sacking of coaches was very easy in Gill's era and it's happening again. We saw 18 coaches in 14 years when KPS Gill was the president of the Indian Hockey Federation. Under Hockey India, we experienced 7 coaches in 11 years. Looks like Hockey India took these numbers seriously. The point is the mindset of the authorities and people involved at the administrative level hasn't changed. It's the same and it's dangerous. In total, we experienced 25 coaches in 25 years of hockey in India. What do we expect as hockey fans?

Sidelining the players: More than a decade ago, this was a very common strategy but it's back again. Ritu Rani (Ex Indian Women Team Captain) sidelined before the Rio Olympics, she even cried during the TV interview. Sardara Singh sidelined before Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, SV Sunil, Rupinderpal Singh and Sardara Singh again got sidelined before the recent world cup. In cricket, which is most popular game in India, if they exclude any player from the previous team they also give the reason but it's not happening in Hockey. It's just like a game of poker, where Hockey India officials are showing their skills of a bluff with confidence. Same things happened in Gill's time Deepak Thakur, Inderjit Chadda and Kamalpreet are only a few to name, but we all know the list. Harendra Singh also raised the concerns about his disability to choose the favourite XI.

No interaction with the media: One of the very close members of Hockey India always endorse the Media as the fourth pillar of democracy but they dare to face the fourth pillar. They are hiding behind their own pillars. Not good at all. Nowadays, Hockey India shared the information with the press releases only, no press conferences. Well, their political bosses are also the same so therefore I don't have much to expect.

What we are missing so far? This is big question. Why KPS Gill ended up with empty hands. The answer is "Rebels". With the support of the rebels, some people formed the Hockey India and I am sure they are very close to tasting their own recipe. In this scenario, the only missing piece in the puzzle is the voice of the players who got sidelined. We need another Rajpal Singh and similarly his fellow teammates, who show the wisdom to stand against the haughty behaviour of Gill and his team. Hockey India The voice from the players who got sidelined is very important. Individually we know the stories but they have to document their stories.

Voice up and fight back: This is the only solution. We should do that. All the Hockey fans must raise their voice against the Hockey India decisions. This is the only time to ask the serious questions to Hockey India and any officials associated with them. I also urge the media to cover this topic as much as you can. Hockey fans need the support from the media and we all have to voice up our feelings.

We all know who is acting like Gill and he/she is similarly trying to be a hunter of the ring with no clear vision and also without long-term planning. Guess what they are just digging their own grave. Considering all the facts as mentioned above, I am sure we may experience an accidental KPS Gill.

Amrinder Gidda

Disclaimer: Feel free to predict...but we all know. :-). Feel free to comment below with your prediction. 

11 years 7 coaches for a team: Hockey India, What is your CEO doing?

Dear CEO of Hockey India, show us a nation in the whole world who changed the coaches like Hockey India? I bet you won’t be able to pinpoint a single country. Isn’t this your failure? Isn’t this embarrassing for you and your team? Don’t you feel you or your boss ego is hurting the whole nation? Don’t you feel the moral values? I think this the beginning of another black era which we saw under the KPS Gill before 2008.

Yes, we will not change our decision and we will always make our decisions without any consultation process. These are the memories when KPS Gill was president of the leading Hockey Authority of India, more than a decade ago. That was the time when the players humiliated and coaches fired and none of the responsible authority members of hockey body dares to face the media.

Now, under the Hockey India, it’s happening again and dear “CEO ” all of this is happening under your supervision or you blame your mystery boss somewhere in your mind and just worrying about securing your job? In 11 years Hockey India introduced and sacked or demotes 7 different Coaches and I would also like to say that, Hockey India actually invented the new ways of appointing and sacking the coaches of Indian Men’s National Team. Hockey is our Nation pride and under your supervision, it's fading away? Isn’t this shameful Hockey India? After KPS Gill the Hockey India CEO is the one who yelled out on the Indian Team Captain, again this is not something you can feel proud of, isn’t it?

Now see the timeline of seven coaches in the last 11 years.

1. Jose Brasa (May 2009 to November 2010)

2. Michael Nobbs (June 2011 to June 2013)

3. Terry Walsh (October 2013 to October 2014)

4. Paul van Ass (January 2015 to June 2015)

5. Roelant Oltmans (August 2015 to Sep 2017)

6. Sjoerd Marijne (Sep 2017 to May 2018)

7. Harendra Singh (May 2018 to January 2019)

I haven't counted on assistant coaches, it may be 15 plus in the last 10 years. Wow, what a strategy from Hockey India CEO or Development Committee. Just a shame...

Why sacking low or demoting is wrong for Harendra: Let’s discuss this. In the press release Hockey India try to fool the fans and also tried to give the positive feel to the fans by stating that “with the vision and emphasis on building a strong player based ahead of 2021 Junior World Cup and the 2020, 2024 Olympic Games, Hockey India High Performance and Development Committee met on Monday 7 January 2019. Basis their discussion the Committee has recommended to reassign Dronacharya Awardee Harendra Singh as the Coach for the Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team”. Now the question is why not Hockey India still keeps Harendra as Chief Coach of Men’s National Team and asked Harendra for his recommendations to coach the Junior Team and they both can work together. 

Another question for the CEO, Isn’t this lack of common sense in your team or committee? They need to develop their skills in development planning for God sake. Now I will show you the performance of Harendra Singh. He is a much better coach than anyone in the last decade. In 1994 India finished the world cup campaign at number 5 and after that continually we failed to finish in top six of five world cups (1998 in the Netherlands, 2002 Malaysia, 2006 German, 2010 India, 2014 Netherlands). Under Harendra Singh we finished six after 24 Years. Now see his previous performance.

Is Hockey India doing favouritism? You saw the Harendra record and now compare it Sjreod. He never showcases any good results in any format and now the question to CEO is why Sjreod is still coaching any Indian side? Is he your favourite? Why Sjreod failure is not noticeable? Check out his performance and you can compare them and it will only draw one picture in your mind. Yes, looks like favouritism is happening, otherwise, there is no reason to keep the Sjreod.

I have tried to contact many officials of Hockey India, including the CEO but no answer (email copy attached below). I spend two weeks to document all the matches and now I can clearly see the picture. Harendra is performing much better than others and I am sure readers will agree. Leave your comments below.

We would love to listen and share the logic around “why Harendra Singh is IMPORTANT”. To conclude, I would like to urge Sports Minister Mr Rajyavardhan Rathore Ji, please intervene in this issue as we feel CEO is not performing and sidelined the top performing coach of Indian National Team. On the last note, I have also contacted the sports ministry to raise the same concern.

Hope for the best or we will keep asking the tough question to the dummies till they will give up. 

Amrinder Gidda