CHENNAI: Olympian V Baskaran has big plans in store for his academy, the CSS-Baskaran Centre for Hockey, at the SRMC campus here. At present, CSS has excellent facilities in place for cricket, rowing, shooting and weightlifting. While Tamil Nadu has produced several Olympians in hockey in the past, nobody from the state has come close to playing in the Olympics since Adam Sinclair took part in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Baskaran, who led the Indian team to Olympic glory in 1980, believes that Olympians cannot be produced overnight and insists that the process should start from the grass-root level. “Tamil Nadu has a chequered history in Olympics. Of late, there are no players from the state in the Olympics. Talent is there, but to be a part of an Olympic squad one needs to fine-tune his game right from a young age.
We, at SRMC, will be trying to groom children from the grass-root level and bring in a sense of professionalism right from a young age. We would like the players who will be training here to live and breathe hockey,” said Baskaran. Facilities at SRMC for the sport of hockey have been revamped. “The first important thing is to have a turf of international standards. I spoke to Venkatachalam, chairman and MD of Sri Ramachandra University and Research Center. We have the latest global turf ready for players to use after lockdown,’’ informed the former India captain.
Players from around 20 schools from the districts of Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu trained for a while at the hockey facility before lockdown. “We encouraged children from nearby schools to play before lockdown. Even CHA players too practised. We have selected two sets of players in the Under-20 category to train regularly at the academy. They will start training after lockdown is lifted. The selected players will undergo strength and endurance training by qualified trainers. So the players will understand what it takes to be a professional player and improve,” said Baskaran.
The CSS hockey team will be taking part in several tournaments once the Covid situation comes under control. “My academy is being registered with Hockey India. From now on, we can take part in all major tournaments. Also, the CSS hockey academy will be part of hockey programmes with clubs from UK, USA, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. We also have a plan to have coaching for coaches on Sundays after lockdown,” informed Baskaran. Baskaran has roped in his fellow Olympian friends to coach his wards.