Last Update: February 24, 2023, 13:46 IST
former captain and current hockey India Chief Dilip Tirkey has reiterated the importance of national championships in grooming young athletes, saying that “grassroots development is essential for any sport to flourish”.
In an episode of Hockey Te Charcha, a veteran of over 400 matches and the first hockey player to be elected as the president of a governing body in the history of the game, Tirkey discusses the roadmap ahead for building and nurturing a well-structured Did. A grassroots system by providing various competitive platforms to young players to hone and develop their skill sets.
“Grassroots development is vital for any sport to flourish. A strong foundation results in good players and a strong senior and junior national teams. In the past, sub-juniors (under-17) and juniors (under-19 ) Athletes in categories did not have enough playing time. We are going to rectify this by introducing a zonal system, where they will play intra zone and inter zone competitions.” Tirkey said.
“Practically, not everyone will play for India, but this setup will at least allow players to take pride in representing their respective regions and give them a feel of a competitive environment at a young age,” he said.
The Hockey India President also mentioned that the new system is not only beneficial for the athletes but will also help the selection committees and administration immensely.
“We are trying to build a pipeline of talent. We could potentially have a pool of around 50 players from each zone. At any point in time, we need to know at what level our sub-junior or junior athletes are. and so we can give them the necessary resources,” he said.
In order to enhance and nurture the talent pool, Hockey India is launching special training programmes, including induction of former international players for athletes and coaches, to provide them with the necessary training and nutritional requirements to perform optimally. To be introduced
“The game of hockey is rapidly evolving, depending on the level of competition we see at Zonal or Nationals, we can provide training modules accordingly, such as a drag-flicking program or even a goalkeeping program that involves Former international players may join who can lead these clinics.
Focus on individual development is very important and hence we are emphasizing on residential facilities for young athletes instead of simple academy based model. This will help them become familiar with the training and nutritional requirements needed to perform optimally.”
The Hockey India chief talked about setting up an Under-17 national team and an Under-19 national team to complement the current Under-21 setup. Also, in the upcoming National Championship to be held in Odisha in April, players can expect to work under a world-class setup with matches being played under floodlights.
“Once we give our junior athletes responsibility and experience by emulating high-level competition from an early age, they will find it easier to face the challenges that come with playing for India at the international level. By adding U17 and U19 national teams, we can also give our athletes benchmarks they can aspire to and work towards,” Tirkey said.
The 45-year-old also stressed on the importance of grassroots level and said that reviving interest in domestic competition is an important part of growing the game.
“We have taken this into account, and have introduced live streaming of matches this year. We have also ensured that the level of the National Championship is at par with any international match that we organize. This will enhance the experience of the players participating in the tournament,” Tirkey said.
“It is a collective effort of Hockey India employees and going forward we also want to introduce video referral system so that players get used to it at an early age,” he added.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)