"There needs to be a hierarchy in hockey development" - Dr Saju Joseph, Ex Coach, Indian Hockey

Dr. Saju Joseph, as a coach and physical fitness trainer, has contributed a lot to hockey in particular and other sports in general. He has a Ph. D besides a Masters Degree in Physical Education and a Certificate in Coaching (Hockey). He is, at present, a consultant in Sports Science Faculty of National Institute of Sports, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To be precise, he is a Functional Bio-mechanist for hockey and other sports.

He was with the Indian National hockey teams from 1996 to 2005. He is the only person who had worked with both the Indian men & women (senior and junior) teams. The Indian hockey teams under his coaching and training have won Gold medals both in the senior and junior sections on many an occasion. Some of these tournaments are – Pre-Asian Games 4-Nation Hockey Tournament in 1998 at Bangkok; Asian Games in 1998 at Bangkok; Prime Minister’s Gold Cup International Hockey Tournament at Dhaka in 2001; Castrol International Hockey Tournament in 2001 in England; Champions Challenge Hockey Tournament in Malaysia in 2001; Junior Asia cup in 2004 in Karachi and many other junior international tournaments.

Since 2006, Saju Joseph has trained the Malaysian hockey team, which has put up remarkable performance at international level.

An expert in high performance, clinical and rehab issues of sports and sportspersons, Dr Saju Joseph is a versatile and multi-dimensional coach and physical fitness trainer. He has delivered sports lectures at several universities in India, Malaysia and Korea. He is well-versed in advanced training and analysing performance with Isokinetic System, gait and motion analysis, Radar Guns, GPS System. Using advanced software in coaching and analysis, he has imparted training in hockey, golf, cycling, athletics, cricket and swimming.

He is adept in managing gymnasiums. He is an enthusiastic and untiring researcher in sports related areas, a reviewer for prestigious sports journals. He has a vast teaching and training experience. In addition to a number of research articles published in international conferences and journals, he also has two books to his credit.

Here are some excerpts from the interview Sportskeeda had with this versatile sports genius.

You have trained hockey players – men and women, seniors and juniors. Is there any cognizable difference in the way men players and women players respond to your coaching and physical fitness training?

There is a vast difference in training men and women hockey players. The men can digest the daily training routine without much hassle. But the women need to be really pushed to undertake heavier training loads, as they lack in self belief. Moreover, you need to focus on individual basis, due to the menstrual cycle variation in a team. Planning and loading needs to be done carefully due to the wide variation in our Indian culture. Bihar/Orissa girls sincerely respond and adapt to physical training as compared to others in the country.

The contribution of a coach/physical fitness trainer is always crucial and vital. How did you feel when India won the Gold Medal in Junior Asia Cup in 2004 at Karachi?

The preparation for the 2005 Junior World cup and 2004 Junior Asia cup started with a serious note in 2002. Periodisation was drawn, each and every meso & micro cycles were planned with great care and executed at odd conditions and facilities delivered to us. But without any grief, the boys worked hard and gave their best. The victory in Karachi against Pakistan in the Junior Asia Cup final was a very sweet one as we defeated them in their home ground, and in front of a 20,000 odd crowd, with a score of 5-3.