Hockey juniors need more matches
As some of the best hockey-playing youngsters in the world showcased their tricks and flicks at the junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar over the last 10 days, one thing stood out. India’s junior boys just don’t play enough competitive hockey. Sure, most of them may satisfy Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘10,000 hours of practice’ theory but all of them have a fair way to go before they can turn into experts. The main reason for that seems to be their lack of proper match practice.
Much has been written about how the pandemic has scuttled opportunities for match play but India’s domestic hockey structure is unique in that the juniors don’t play anyway. The elite juniors are locked in training camps for more than 250 days a year. Apart from exposure trips to Europe and places like Malaysia, they don’t play much. That’s very different compared to European nations. Their youngsters play in leagues, both domestic and foreign; they share dressing rooms with some of the world’s best senior pros. When that happens, there is a quicker upward curve in terms of development. Exposed to tricky match conditions on a weekly basis, they know the nuances of the game. Real match situations demand a different mindset to tackle adversities. Going shoulder to shoulder with the world’s best, they are already finishing school at a very young age.
This was on display in each of the three knockout games India played. The Belgians, Germans and French, most of them playing in competitive leagues in Europe, knew what to do. Even at the age-group level, that’s a massive advantage to have. While India’s performance against Belgium showed the players have the talent to break through, the losses against Germany and France (twice) revealed what can happen when they don’t play enough. Perhaps it is time to bring back the Hockey India League (word on the street is there could be a five-a-side version soon) or maybe send some of these juniors to play in European leagues. One of the reasons the 2016 side won the junior World Cup was because of the experience the players had acquired in HIL. Devoid of those minutes, this team looked a bit lost at the business end of the tournament. This is a good bunch but if they are to progress further, Hockey India should restart the league or change the structure.