Hockey India (HI) president and former India skipper Dilip Tirkey spoke about new coach Craig Fulton, the revival of the Hockey India League (HIL), the future of the India-Pakistan bilateral engagements and much more on the sidelines of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Chennai recently. Excerpts:
It’s early days in the Fulton era but what is your first impression?
Fulton is a very experienced coach in world hockey. He helped Ireland qualify for the Olympics after a very long gap and he was the assistant coach with Belgium for many years. It’s a big thing to be a coach for a long time with a top team. He would have gained plenty of experience with them. Belgium became a champion in all major tournaments during his time. We are seeing improvement from the Indian players day by day during his stint here. Asian Games is a very important tournament for India with the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification at stake and wish we produce better hockey under Fulton.
Was there an emphasis on changing the style when it came to his appointment?
For many years, the Indians have been playing under international coaches. They know world hockey well, and they understand European hockey well too. Fulton is the same: he understands European hockey well and the players will definitely want to adapt to the style he hopes to implement.
When will official talks start about HIL? What is the progress made in terms of logistics, teams, deliberations with other associations...
HI’s main agenda is to revive HIL. Already Big Bank Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd. has come on board as the commercial and marketing partner. The men’s league will have eight teams. We are also planning to have a women’s version with four sides. We feel that HIL will have a worldwide reach and the tournament will provide plenty of exposure for the Indian youngsters. We had asked for a window last year to the FIH but weren’t able to get it. We will try again. Once we get the window, we will move forward. Talks are still on for where those eight teams will come from. There has been a lot of interest, including from corporate sectors. In six months, there will be more developments and we will have an announcement on the same.
The appointment of Paddy Upton as the mental conditioning coach was a first for Indian hockey. Will we see a similar arrangement for the women’s team?
Of course. We will take help from him too [for the women’s team]. Upton is currently with the men’s team on a short-term deal. If the women’s team also needs him, we will take his support for them. We will plan for the women’s team, too, in the future.
“Even through the difficulties [current political climate], India and Pakistan played here. In future, too, we can organise a Test series between the two in India with the approval of the government. That will be great for the future of hockey”Dilip Tirkey
Odisha has done a commendable job of fostering a thriving hockey ecosystem. It helps that it has provinces that have been traditional hotbeds for talent in the sport. Chennai was too, and the Asian Champions Trophy has sparked a discussion on where hockey goes from here in the State. Does HI plan to keep working with HUTN to continue what the ACT being hosted here has started?
Firstly, the infrastructure and then hockey fans in the city are very important. I know from 1995 until 2007, there was plenty of craze for hockey in Chennai. I played here at the 1995 SAFF Games and even in the 2007 Asia Cup and have seen the craze among the public. For whatever reason, there has been no hockey here until the Asian Champions Trophy. You have seen how we have had a really good tournament, thanks to the State government’s support. We wish that Chennai, as a venue with a rich hockey history, support base and fans, will be revived as a hockey centre. We wish we could similarly reignite the game in other traditional centres and take international hockey to those places.
HI introduced sub-junior teams recently as part of the grassroots programme. Was the initiative your brainchild?
The grassroots programme is very important or we won’t get quality players otherwise. We create teams in under-21 and then the senior teams. Kids play from the age of 16 to 19 or 20. There is a gap of five years which we need to address. We need to train them properly in areas like fitness, modern hockey and tactics, and give them the required exposure. We wish to instill confidence in them by giving them importance and responsibility. How else will they develop? They need to have the interest that they need to play for India sub-juniors first. It’s a continuous process and a long-term plan.
Rajpal Singh said you are cultivating a good environment and it might make him want to be part of your vision. Is there a pipeline to bring former national players on board?
When I was elected president, I had two main objectives. The first one was to revive HIL, and the second was to reorganise the grassroots programme. But the grassroots programme doesn’t have competition. We have zonal championships. We are conducting special programmes for drag-flickers and goalkeepers. In modern hockey, the teams which have quality drag-flickers dominate. We know this... so why not train them at an early age for this? For this programme, we are looking to set up a centre and even requested Rupinder Pal Singh who did a short programme in Odisha for drag-flickers. We will extend it to different States too. And goalkeeping is also very important.
Going forward, will the Poligras turf be laid out in other centres as well?
It will be. For international hockey, we need two turfs, including a training surface. We will guide whichever State wants to come forward. We also wish that more international hockey comes to India and wherever hockey used to be played, there should be turfs. HI wishes to grow the game in every place. We want to organise events and implement our grassroots programme in those locations. If you talk about events, we have approached and spoken to State governments. The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai, where renovation work wasn’t done for many years, wasn’t fit for international hockey. But when the talk of competition [ACT] came about, the Tamil Nadu government showed interest and renovated the stadium.
The Asian Champions Trophy has seen the Pakistan team cross the border and play without any issues. The neighbour had a warm welcome in India too. With this success, can India and Pakistan play a hockey Test series in the near future? Can hockey set a template for its cricket counterpart?
Definitely. We would like to play them because the world wants to see India-Pakistan contests. There is still a charm and interest in it among the fans. So why won’t we look to resume those contests? Even through the difficulties [current political climate], India and Pakistan played here. In future, too, we can organise a Test series between the two in India with the approval of the government. That will be great for the future of hockey.
