Farewell Ric Charlesworth – We will never know what a top-class international coach could do with all the hockey talent in India

Long ago, legendary German hockey coach Paul Lissek had commented that, with the kind of natural talent available in Indian hockey, any top-notch international coach including Lissek himself, would give an arm and a leg to coach the Indian National team. Modern hockey calls for high levels of fitness, preparation and tactical manoeuvring and Indian teams and their home-grown coaches have always been found lacking. According to Lissek, a top coach could change all that and roll back the glory years.

Like a true sporting romantic, I was in total agreement with Lissek. I really hoped that his words would come true and India would be an all-conquering hockey nation once again. I had read a lot about our glorious past and yearned for a magnificent future under the tutelage of someone like Lissek. The fact that Lissek himself was ready to take up the job, if offered by the IHF was further proof that he really meant every word that he said.

Unfortunately for Indian hockey and sadly for fans like me, the IHF was not interested in what Paul Lissek had to say. They continued to hire and fire ‘desi’ coaches and Indian hockey continued its downward spiral.

Usually, former hockey greats are extremely critical of the IHF but they were fully supportive of the federation’s policy of not hiring a top international coach. They behave as if a foreign coach is like the second coming of British rule and are totally oblivious of the short comings of Indian coaches. I really hate them for that. It’s nothing but false jingoism.

Then Gerhard Rach happened.

One fine day the IHF went ahead and appointed an unknown German, Gerhard Rach as the Indian Coach. They claimed that they had pursued Paul Lissek but he was too expensive for them. So they got another German coach instead. The IHF’s logic was flawed and their explanation pathetic. Rach was not even worthy of being called a poor man’s Lissek. He was probably an impoverished, malnourished, critically ill man’s Lissek.

The move was a horrible blunder from day one and ended in acrimony- Rach was sacked unceremoniously and accused the IHF of not paying his full wages. Forget Lissek, the IHF could not even afford the third –grade German coach.

The Olympians were delighted though. They had been vindicated. A foreign coach had failed miserably. Nobody cared for the fact that he was a hopeless coach in the first place and then a foreigner

It’s interesting to note that around the same, Pakistan managed to hire a world-class coach in Dutchman Roelant Oltmans and found great success with him.

Indian hockey fell a few more notches and then Els van Breda Vriesman happened.

For years the FIH has been accused of systematically trying to kill the Asian style of hockey with constant rule changes in favour of the more physical Europeans. But that changed when Dutch woman Els van Breda Vriesman took charge. She took a personal initiative to help Indian hockey. India was awarded the 2010 Hockey World Cup. It is hoped that this mega event would revive interest in the sport in India. But more importantly she made my wish come true. She ensured that India would finally have a high-calibre coach. At least that is what I thought

Australian Ric Charlesworth arrived in India to take charge of Indian hockey. Thankfully, he was funded by the IHF and the IHF didn’t have to bother. His role however was not clear. He was called a consultant by the IHF and entrusted with the task of working at the grass roots. Ric wanted a more active role with the national side. I hoped that sooner or later the IHF would see the fault in their ways and make Ric the national coach. And then Ric would do what Lissek had prophesized long back. For once we would get a chance to see what a top –coach could do with all the natural talent that India has. I kept waiting and hoping as the IHF and Ric continued to tussle.

Then the Australian finally threw in the towel and resigned. The IHF called him names and abhorred him for his unprofessional behaviour. The Olympians rejoiced and some went to the extent of calling all former Australian greats turned coaches as money hungry mercenaries. The obvious reference was to Greg Chappell. Not that it mattered. What mattered to me was that my dream was over - After having come tantalizingly close to seeing the light of day. This was the closest we would ever get to having a world class coach. Lissek claims would forever remain a theoritical hypothesis. We would never get a chance to see the marriage of Indian talent and foreign coaching. Let the assembly line of desi coaches be set in motion again.

Sphere: Related Content

Guus Hiddink is the Miracle Worker 2.0 - a new and improved version of Bora Milutinovic

Guus Hiddink has done it again. I don’t have words to describe his magical feats at Euro 2008 – have simply run out of clichés. So I’ll make my life easy and do a simple analogy.

Guus Hiddink is the new and improved Bora Milutinovic

First a little something about Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic

Long before Guus Hiddink gained a reputation as the coach with the magic touch; there was Bora Milutinovic. The Serbian had the uncanny and almost ungodly ability to get the football team of any nation to play out of their skin and achieve the seemingly impossible. Succeeding with one foreign team is difficult enough – there are issues about understanding the culture, the football mindset and sometimes even the language. But rather then succumb to it; Bora Milutinovic seemed to thrive on the challenge.

Savour this – He got Mexico to the quarters of the 1986 Football World Cup;Costa Rica to the second round in 1990, the US to the second round of the 1994 World Cup;Nigeria to the second round of the 1998 World Cup and finally China to the World Cup of 2002. He has a flawless resume when it comes to taking the most ordinary of football nations to the biggest football event in the World and then getting them to do well in the main tournament as well. Teams like Mexico and Nigeria at least had a modicum of football pedigree. The likes of Costa Rica and the US were supposed to be lambs to the slaughter but Bora got them to roar like a lion

In his prime, Bora was the closest thing to a ‘Miracle Worker’ – a nickname bestowed upon him by Alan Rothenberg, the president of the US Soccer Federation. Rothenberg had turned to Bora when the US faced the certain ignominy of becoming the first host nation to fail to qualify for the second round of the World Cup. The miracle worker blew his magic whistle (to use a coaching term) and saved them the blushes.

Those who know Guus Hiddink well would now be smiling to themselves in the knowledge of having figured out the rest of the article. But for the benefit of those who haven’t, here’s why Guus is an improvement on even the great Bora.

Because taking Holland into the semis of the 1998 World Cup beats taking Mexico into the quarters in 1986

Because taking hosts South Korea into the Semis in 2002 was more sensational than the achievements of hosts USA in 1994

Because taking Australia into the second round of the 2006 World Cup, where they almost knocked eventual champions Italy out of the tournament is on par with the feats of Nigeria in 1998.

Because Hiddink’s magical journey into the semis of Euro 2008 with the Russians eclipses the Costa Rica’s dream run in the 1990 World Cup.

And for those who are still not convinced here’s the clincher – Bora was a poor club coach failing with Udinese in Italy and with the Metrostars in the US. Hiddink on the other hand won the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988 and went on another magical run with the same club in the UEFA Champions League in 2004-05 making the semis.

Various people have tried to honour Guus Hiddink by bestowing impressive nicknames upon him – notable being Tsar Hiddink, Aussie Guus and Guus Geluk ( meaning lucky Guus) . But I can think of only one which gives the Dutchman and his achievements the right scale and perspective. He is the Miracle Worker 2.0 – a new and far improved version of the original ‘Miracle Worker’

This article was originally published on www.goal.com

Sphere: Related Content

Finally a coach for Roger 'there's nothing a coach can teach me' Federer

Somebody seems to have knocked some sense into Roger Federer’s head. He is finally getting himself a coach. And not just any coach. He’s a getting a specialist clay-court coach – one Mr Jose Higueras – who has guided Michael Chang and Jim Courier to the French Open title in the past. Very smart choice!

We have been chiding Roger to get himself a coach for some time and now that he has gone ahead and got one, we have every reason to be happy about it. We want Fedex to beat Sampras’ grand slam record and also dethrone Nadal as the French Open Champion. Hiring Higueras will give him a great shot at both.

Sphere: Related Content

Hey Roger, go get a coach man!

There’s a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. The truly great ones generally manage to walk the tight-rope without falling to the perils of over-estimating their own prowess. But sometimes, even they are blinded by their own brilliance. Roger Federer needs to do something quick before his incandescence hastens his own burn-out. He needs to go get a coach, pronto.

History has been witness to sportsmen making some really tall self-proclamations. None bigger than Mohammed Ali’s, “I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was”. Roger has been nowhere as pompous with his best being,” I've really proved that on all surfaces, everywhere in the world, I can win the title. It's been incredible for me from beginning to end”. What was a bigger statement though was his decision to dispense with his coach, and decide not to hire another one.

This was a bold step – something unheard of in the modern era, where top players travel with an assortment of trainers, coaches and instructors. Roger then walked the talk by winning almost everything (the French Open excluded) in sight and dominating the ATP tour like no one before him had done. But lost amongst the hosannas have been the signs of fallibility. I had made one humble attempt to predict an end to the greatness and then another one. Not that too many people noticed.

In 2008, however, the people have really started noticing. Roger’s poor start to the year has brought Nadal and Djokovic within touching distance of his no 1 ranking. As expected, the questions of getting a coach have been raised. And promptly shot down by the Swiss maestro. I have been tempted to write the third and final part of my Roger Federer obituary, even though I should ideally wait to see if he can hold onto the Wimbledon crown. This, because Federer’s supreme confidence is slowly becoming his biggest undoing and threatening to immolate him.

I will wait however, for the simple reason that I as a sports fan love to see records being made and a dominant Roger Federer is on the verge of re-writing the entire book. But for that to happen, the great man needs to hire a coach right away. And if he needs convincing, he should go check with buddy Tiger Woods – his only rival as the most dominant sportsperson in the world. In fact, that debate is close to being settled in Tiger’s favour as Roger’s decline has coincided with Woods’ ascent to the closest thing in terms of sporting perfection. He has won 8 of his last nine tournaments and finished second in another, sparking talk of a grand slam ; something not done in the history of the golf. Also for the information of the uninformed, golf is far more tougher than tennis when it comes to winning tournaments regularly. You play only yourself and have no control over the performance of the others. Every golf-course is like a different surface in tennis parlance, making it very difficult for any player to master all the different playing conditions in various tournaments. (Quite unlike tennis where you only need to master grass, clay, indoor carpet and hard-court)

Fedex needs to learn from the guy on the right

Tiger is a classic case of never being satisfied and always looking for continuous improvement – a lesson Federer has forgotten in his arrogance. And most of Tigers’ unending pursuit for excellence has been a joint effort with his coaches. When Tiger first appeared on the tour, he was already hitting the ball the farthest – an advantage which resulted in a slew of titles and the world number one ranking. But he was still willing to take it to the next level. So, on the advice of swing coach Hank Haney, he decided to re-model his swing completely. This lead to a drastic drop in performance but Tiger persevered with his coach; trying to perfect the new swing. And when he managed to do it, he was an even better player. This is the equivalent of Goran Ivanisevic or Pete Sampras deciding that their serve wasn’t good enough and hence they needed a new service action. Tiger has been strongly challenged by some extremely talented guys like Phil Mickleson and Ernie Els but his ever-improving game has broken their resolve. Federer’s arrogance on the other hand has only fuelled the hunger of Nadal and Djokovic.

Roger Federer needs to accept that he is facing a crisis. His once imposing game is no longer good enough to keep the challengers at arm’s-length. He needs to raise his game by a few notches to extend his greatness. He also has to understand that he is capable of that. All human beings are capable of further improvement. Perfection is a theoretical concept. A coach can facilitate the improvement process. Getting a coach is not the sign of weakness but a reflection of wisdom. He can continue to walk the tight-rope between confidence and arrogance. Just needs to get himself a coach first.

Sphere: Related Content

An Indian Grand Slam champion by 2018

There is fantastic news for all the aspiring tennis players and tennis fans of this country. In what ranks as one of the biggest sports projects undertaken by an Indian corporate house, the Apollo Group has set the ‘tyre’ rolling to create India’s first grand slam champion by 2018. The plan is two fold ; one, popularizing the sport to attract youngsters to the game, and two, identifying young talent nationally and sponsoring their training, skill development and global exposure. The Group has committed an amount of 100 crores, to be spent over the next 10 years, towards this project. Hats off to them for their initiative, and more so for daring to think beyond cricket. (Read more about the announcement).

As part of their plan, they have decided to tie-up with India’s leading tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi, who also runs the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy (MBTA). Now this is where my hopes for this project start to slump.

I have checked out the internet and the MBTA website to see what they have been up to. There isn’t a single half –decent player to come out of this academy. The coaches include Mahesh’s father whose single claim to coaching fame is tutoring his son, and Gaurav Natekar – who at junior level was as good as Leander but failed to make the grade as a senior. The website has few details of their programs and fee structure. I even wrote them an e-mail asking for details but they are yet to get back. In a nut shell, I don’t think Mahesh Bhupathi and co have the know how to produce a grand slam champion, and quite frankly the 100 crores is going down the drain. Even Mahesh’s development as a doubles champion had a lot to do with his NCAA stint at Stanford University.

Is that the end of the project, or is there a way to do it differently to achieve the desired goal? Yes there is. Think Nick Bollettieri – the greatest tennis coach to walk this planet. He has produced from scratch, the greatest collection of tennis champions in the world. The likes of Agassi, Sampras, Courier, Seles and Mary Pierce took their first baby steps towards tennis stardom under his tutelage. And the best part is that Nick sees great potential in India and is more than interested in starting an academy in India, as he claimed in an interview way back in 2004.

Few people know that, in 2004 the Indian subsidiary of the IMG, which owns the Bollettieri academy in Florida, had announced a plan to set a world class tennis academy in India with an initial investment of 120 million dollars. Nick was to play a leading role in the academy modeled on the one, he runs back home. Sadly the land allotted for the project by the Chandra Babu govt was then taken away by the pro-farmer regime of Raj Shekhar Reddy leaving the project in limbo. The govt claimed that the Indian subsidiary called IMG Bharata was not associated with IMG, a point clearly invalidated on the IMG website.

So the way forward for the Apollo people is to revive the project and give the job to the experts. Nick Bollettieri has already proved that he can work wonders with people from different parts of the world; just check out the alumni list on his website, and with him in charge of the ‘Indian Grand Slam Champion 2018’ project, tennis fans can start making travel plans for Wimbledon 2018.

Sphere: Related Content

Coach hunting for Team India

One of the most hotly debated topics in Indian sport is whether, there is a need to have foreign coaches for our national teams. Among the major sports, Cricket and Football have joined the bandwagon fulltime, while hockey has flirted with the idea once. Other sports like shooting, table tennis and boxing are also employing foreign coaches.

The call for a foreign coach is mainly based on the ineptitude of our local talent; home grown coaches who rarely have the relevant coaching experience, and are not abreast of the latest coaching techniques and training methodologies. This school of thought curries favour with most modern sports administrators, whose penchant for the foreigner, however, is borne out of the desire to get a quick fix solution and sweep their own misgivings under the carpet. Their selection criterion is pretty simple; get a coach from the country currently dominating the sport.

Ironically, the selection panel generally consists of former greats, who, strongly feel that a foreign coach is like an imported car on bumpy Indian roads – completely out of place. Most of them will take the job of coaching the national team at the drop of a hat; in spite of never having coached a school team, and are gripped by jingoistic pride every time a foreign mercenary treads upon their coaching fiefdom. Their selection procedure gives undue importance to the playing career of the candidate, undermining the entire exercise.

So, as we prepare to make another selection, what is the solution to this coaching conundrum?

Well, for starters let’s try answer, what makes a 'good' national coach?

A 'good' national coach should have proven coaching credentials at the first class level, in a competitive sporting environment. To be able to adapt to the changing nature of the modern game, he should constantly be in tune with the latest coaching methodologies. A taste of the international game is another added advantage.

His coaching resume should provide enough evidence of having made his team larger than the sum of the parts, and of having strategized as per the strengths of the players and not the other way round. His teams should have exhibited signs of being prepared for multiple situations and displayed flawless execution. He should have developed a system, which consistently delivered, without suffering from the occasional absence of key players.

Now, that we have defined 'good', let’s look at past mistakes and global best practices to throw more light on this matter.

Just don’t get any foreign coach. Get a good one - After a spate of dismal performances, the Indian Hockey Federation decided to appoint a foreign coach. The legendary German coach, Paul Lissek, was willing, but he was deemed too expensive by the IHF. So they got a cheaper German; little-known Gerhard Rach instead. The team’s cheap performances were a fait accompli all along.

Instead of buying imported cars for eternity, try setting up a world class local manufacturing facility - All the major football leagues in the world; England, Spain and Italy, make it mandatory for a coach to first acquire a coaching diploma. These programs are in turn designed and run by reputed coaches, and the syllabus is regularly updated. In comparison most of our coaches learn on the job and the few ‘certified’ ones benefit from the generosity of NIS (National Institute of Sports) Patiala; whose philanthropy compares to the way driving licenses are handed out in our country.

Joint ventures work really well – Taking an automobile analogy, an indigenous suspension can cushion the impact of Indian roads. Successful foreign coaches, have long employed local assistant coaches and scouts. This helps the foreign coach in appreciating the sports culture of the country; in understanding the domestic structure of the game; and facilitating clear communication with the players( especially, if there is a language barrier). An added advantage is that most of these assistants benefit from the tutelage and turn out pretty good themselves. (E.g. José Mourinho under Bobby Robson)

When selecting a coach, ask for his coaching resume, and not his playing one - What is common to John Bracewell of New Zealand, Tom Moody of Sri Lanka, Dave Whatmore of Bangladesh, Mickey Arthur of South Africa and Roger Harper of Kenya? Answer – They are all coaches of successful WC 2007 teams, who had moderate cricketing careers. There are countless other examples which prove the same point - Good coaches don’t have to be great players as well. And, come to think of it, one of the Indian selectors had the temerity to ask Tom Moody, how he even considered applying for the Indian post, when his career stats were far inferior to those of fellow applicant, Greg Chappell. Wonder what the selector has to say now?

Finally the silver lining - The great Indian coach is not a bridge too far. The emergence of Venkatesh Prasad, Praveen Amre and Robin Singh as competent coaches, who are making sincere efforts to fit the mould of a modern day coach, provides hope for the future. An assistant coaching stint under a good foreign coach and regular exposure to modern methodologies will go a long way in making great coaches out of them.

Bottom-line – A ‘good’ foreign coach with Indian assistants is the need of the hour. A good infrastructure, where coaches are trained and given on the job learning as well, will bring in a new tomorrow.

Sphere: Related Content