Hockey in India at stake over two disputed hockey bodies: Hockey News
Manohar Topno, Jharkhand’s team coach, has criticised over the dispute between Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) that have majorly affected the development of the sport in the country.
Topno claims that Indian hockey is losing its worth in the international arena due to the lack of standard that is hard to maintain with such rivalry prevailing among the organising bodies of the country.
The former Olympian said that those players were being ruled out of teams that have great potential and talent in them. This was because both the bodies were more into the fight part as compared to the proper selection of team-members.
Being one of the members of the selection committee, Topno suggested HI and IHF to sort out their controversy, considering the attention the game requires in this hour of crisis for both hockey and India.
When asked about the competency of the national coaches and the recent need aroused concerning a foreign coach, Topno remarked, "We do not have a dearth of talented coaches, but we require foreign coaches due to the fast changing techniques
as well as rules of the game."
He said that the international body, FIH, recognises HI as the authorised body, but it lacks the technology that is required for observing the standard of the top-most hockey nations at current, especially those being followed by the European teams.
He pointed out the Poland team’s coach way of treating his players as an example by sharing the fact that on failing to convert a penalty-corner into a goal in the 2010 New Delhi World Cup, the coach called out the player in a short-break and not just informed
him about the mistake the player committed, but also corrected him by telling him about the areas for improvements, whereas here the things do not work like this.
Moreover, Topno stated that there is an inadequacy of infrastructural facilities of the sport. He informed that despite of an astro-turf laid in the hockey stadium of Ranchi, Jharkhand’s Capital, Hockey Jharkhand’s (HJ) team had to practice on a turf-ground.
He regrettably shared the fact the stadium has become a show-piece, which is being used for purposes apart from hockey, like marriage functions. This is because the cost of using the stadium for the team’s training was far from HJ’s budget to afford.
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