After India snub, former skipper Rani Rampal to coach sub-junior girls
Hockey India announced a special coaching camp and international matches for the Indian Sub-Junior Men’s and Women’s Team. The coaching camp aims at promoting and developing a strong grassroot structure and providing the sub-junior talent with a high-performance environment.
The camp will see former Indian Hockey Captain Sardar Singh and former India Women's Captain Rani taking up the mentorship and Coach's role. The Sub-Junior Men and Women camp will be for 45-50 days and will commence on 21st August 2023 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela, which has state-of-the-art facilities. The camp will then be followed by international matches in Europe – Belgium and the Netherlands.
A total of 40 players will be selected for each of the Sub-Junior Men and Sub-Junior Women camps. The players have been chosen on the basis their recent performances in the Hockey India Sub-Junior National Championships. A qualified coaching staff consisting of a coach, two assistant coaches, two physios, two masseuses and a trainer will be accompanying each team.
Talking about the initiative, Hockey India President Padma Shri Dr. Dilip Tirkey said, “We believe it is crucial to induct players in this age group to a programme that is on the same lines of the junior and senior camps that are ongoing in SAI, Bengaluru. Besides this, we are happy to welcome icons of the game – Sardar and Rani – both of whom are accomplished players themselves and have achieved accolades at the highest levels. They will be fabulous mentors for these young players.”
Meanwhile, Hockey India Secretary General Shri Bhola Nath Singh shared his thoughts about the initiative. He said, “I am very happy with the launch of this programme. It is the right step towards developing a hockey culture and is in line with our endeavour to spread hockey across India. It is a great opportunity for young and aspiring players to work closely with legends of the game. They can learn a lot from them. Through this initiative, we are not only giving players the opportunity to make use of this platform but at the same time, we are also training our support staff. I wish Sardar and Rani the best of luck in their new endeavor.”
Talking about this new innings, Sardar Singh said, "This is a wonderful initiative by Hockey India. It is very important to have a uniform program at the national level for this age group. I have always enjoyed working with youngsters. I look forward to this stint and experience the world-class infrastructure in Rourkela."
Rani too had similar views as she emphasized on the importance of a strong national program in this age category. She said, "Following the same methods as that of the junior and senior programs is a big step forward in creating a uniform training for grassroots level players, so in the future, they won't find it difficult to adapt when they progress to junior or senior national camps. The playing structure will also be similar to what's followed by the senior teams so, I believe this camp will be a big step forward in the growth of the sport. All in all, our complete focus will be on the all-round development of sub-junior players and our aim will be to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead."