New Delhi: With the 2017 edition of the Coal India Hockey India League (HIL) to kick off on 21 January 2017 in Mumbai, FIH Junior World Cup Champion team’s Skipper Harjeet Singh urged his compatriots to be prepared to put up a good show in the league if they want to find themselves in the senior core probable list for the senior men’s camp scheduled to commence at SAI Centre Bengaluru in March.
Recalling the interactions with the Chief Coach of the Senior team, Harjeet Singh said, “When Coach Roelant (Oltmans) joined our camp ahead of the Junior World Cup, he had a meeting with the team where he said that while the Junior World Cup performance will be a stepping stone for many of us as it’s only the start of our career, how we play in the Coal India HIL against some of the top names in world hockey will be crucial in terms of our selection for the senior men’s camp.”
Post the World Cup win, Oltmans asked the players not to relax but stay on top of their game for the Coal India HIL. “After the celebration party post the final match, Coach met with the entire team for 10 minutes (which is a regular ritual we follow) and told us that we have created history by winning the title but our careers don’t end with this. Our aim should be to make the cut for the senior squad and how we perform in the HIL will be closely monitored by the national selectors,” says Singh who plays for Delhi Waveriders.
The Junior team’ skipper who was also part of the senior team that won the historic Silver medal at the FIH Champions Trophy in London last year, feels that the entire junior team put up a great show at the World Cup, he hopes that the implementation of a development squad will ensure this talent is not wasted.
Speaking further about his team mates at the junior team, he said, “While I personally feel every player in the junior squad is worthy of a spot in the senior men’s camp, I know it’s virtually not possible for everyone to make the cut as the senior team is already a well-balanced unit. Hence, I feel that having a development squad will be great in terms of ensuring the hard work put in by the junior team and the coaching staff in making us world champions doesn’t go for a waste.”
Speaking about the pressure on the junior players during the Hockey India League, Harjeet said, “Initially we would feel the pressure of playing with or against stalwart players but after three editions, that feeling has subsided. Thanks to the constant meetings, often one-on-one, with HIL team Coaches who urge us to play our natural game and not worry about the mistakes we make or let the fact that we are playing against big names in hockey affect our game. I personally used to feel this pressure but my Coaches in Delhi Waveriders Cedric D’Souza and Baljeet Singh Saini helped me overcome this fear.”
The 20 year old Singh will reach his hometown of Kurali on January 7 for the first time after winning the Junior World Cup. Delhi Waveriders also features Santa Singh, Parvinder Singh, Mandeep Singh from the Junior World Cup winning squad.
The Coal India Hockey India League will start from 21 January 2017. Matches will be shown live on Star Sports 2 & HD 2 and Star Sports 3 & HD 3 and live streamed on Hotstar.com.
