India should stop hiring and firing coaches so fast, says FIH President Leandro Negre

FIH President Leandro Negre

The president of the FIH (International Hockey Federation), Leandro Negre, has said that India should put a stop to its practice of frequently changing its coaches if it wants to get back to being among the top teams in the world.

“There has to be a continuity in the coaching staff,” said Negre during an event to announce the schedule of the inaugural Hockey World League final in New Delhi between January 10-18.

“There’s no way a team can develop if coaches keep changing every now and then.”

India has tried and done away with so many coaches in the past decade including four foreign coaches in the last six years.

Just this year, former Australian Olympian Terry Walsh replaced his countryman Michael Nobbs as head coach of the men’s hockey team.

Spaniard Jose Brasa and Australia’s Ric Charlesworth are the others to have gone through the revolving door of coaches in the Indian set up.

Negre also said that India had to still further develop its youth system.

“There are 27 hockey academies in India and there is the need to take advantage of that, to develop good under-14 and under-16 teams. India seems to be improving its domestic structure in the past few years but a lot still needs to be done,” Negre said.

Negre also conceded that he and the FIH took special interest in India doing well due to the popularity of the game here and the fact that India hosts so many FIH tournaments.

“There was not much enthusiasm for the tournament because India did not do well but I know for sure that hockey is still very important for people here. It’s the only country that can host so many competitions and it’s important that India does well,” Negre said.

India just finished hosting the 2013 Junior Hockey World Cup for men and also hosted the senior World Cup in 2010. It has been named as the host again for the 2018 edition as well. The 2014 Champions Trophy will also be held in the country next December.