Hockey India mulls English-speaking sessions for hockey players

Communication has been a problem for past coaches, such as Ric Charlesworth

The advent of foreign coaches is often seen as an attempt to lift the sagging fortunes of the Indian men’s hockey team.

Right from German Gerhard Rach (who became the first foreign coach of the Indian hockey team in 2004) to Ric Charlesworth, Jose Brasa, Michael Nobbs, and Roelant Oltmans, the one thing that often went unnoticed was whether our boys are able to effectively communicate or fathom what these foreign coaches tell them during training sessions.

The issue of players communicating well with foreign coaches has never been dwelt on at length.

But now Hockey India is learnt to have initiated steps to address this issue. Sources close to Hockey India say that High Performance Manager Roelant Oltmans is keen to rope in an English tutor to help Indian players speak in English in an effective manner.

It is known fact that the Indian hockey players often struggle to speak in English when confronted during the prize distribution ceremonies of hockey events.

There is a line of thinking that honing of English skills will go a long way in improving the team’s performance.

Sources say foreign coaches struggle to understand what our players are trying to convey. At times, players don’t quite get the message through as they can’t effectively communicate in English as it’s an open secret that foreign coaches can converse only in English.

Although nothing could be confirmed at this point in time, it is learnt that Hockey India could kickstart English learning sessions for our players after the end of the 9th Asia Cup beginning at Ipoh from August 24.

The Asia Cup is India’s last opportunity to seal a berth in the 2014 World Cup.