Comments on: FIH adopts the orphan that is Indian hockey http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/ The A-Z of Indian Olympic Sports Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:13:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: avnish http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-55 avnish Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:12:14 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-55 One thing that could really help Indian Hockey is a strong showing at the 2010 World Cup. This could do for Indian hockey what Vishwanathan Anand’s titles did for chess and the Beijing Olympics did for boxing. Lets just pray to god that we get a good coach, who gets a free hand to run things till the World Cup. The sport is still alive in this country and there is enough talent out there. A two year plan under a top coach could really help matters. And then people who care for the game need to rise to the occasion. They need to do what the home crowd did for Korea in the 2002 football world cup One thing that could really help Indian Hockey is a strong showing at the 2010 World Cup. This could do for Indian hockey what Vishwanathan Anand’s titles did for chess and the Beijing Olympics did for boxing. Lets just pray to god that we get a good coach, who gets a free hand to run things till the World Cup. The sport is still alive in this country and there is enough talent out there. A two year plan under a top coach could really help matters. And then people who care for the game need to rise to the occasion. They need to do what the home crowd did for Korea in the 2002 football world cup

]]> By: Varun http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-50 Varun Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:07:41 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-50 Yes, poor marketing, that's the problem. Intelligent/aggressive marketing of other sports is the need of the hour. Maybe there is a market out there, we don' know yet! Yes, poor marketing, that’s the problem. Intelligent/aggressive marketing of other sports is the need of the hour. Maybe there is a market out there, we don’ know yet!

]]> By: Dr Ruchi Bhatt http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-49 Dr Ruchi Bhatt Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:45:05 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-49 Kuch karo na karo yaar~! Wo australian restaurant wale ka bill chukao yaar! what crap! Kuch karo na karo yaar~! Wo australian restaurant wale ka bill chukao yaar! what crap!

]]> By: Dr Ruchi Bhatt http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-48 Dr Ruchi Bhatt Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:37:16 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-48 This should be the Reply! (From a friend Shashank) Dear Mr. Charlesworth, It is sad that you left like this. Leave aside a handful of your dedicated fans and another few who looked at your recommendations in a neutral manner, there aren't many who felt moved by your unavoidable departure. You put up with a system with which we ourselves are fed up. It is something like, if I ask someone what can be done to change things in Hockey they will say,"Nothing will ever going to change ... these administrators will kill the game completely." The underlying fact is, "Not many have courage to work towards to positive change." That is why the administrators rule the game. You were smart enough to interact with so many people that you understood the whole system in and out. I once argued with a person pleading, "Atleast accept that something is wrong here. We can then take steps towards bettering it." The response I got was, "No, the way you see it is wrong. It works like this only." That sums up the whole situation. Your mistake was that you found a problem in our system. For us, our system is the tremendous pool of players (and talent) that we have! That, by the virtue of above argument, is flawless and no one else has it to such a capacity. We will keep pushing for recognition on this premise, no matter any medals come our way or not. Your another mistake is, you have left our system stark naked. Because the fact is, we will not accept it. No matter, how embarrasing it is for anyone else, we won't accept this. Second lastly, we will keep harping on the 8 Gold Medals that we won, sometime! We have a fascination for history. As one of the popular movie songs says: ulti seedhi .. jaisi bhi hai .. apni yahi kahani ... phir bhi dil hai hindustani ...! (whatever it is .. but we still are Indians) Last but not the least, you should learn that in India if one wins a medal or a national level award, they have every right to rule the arena, thereafter, forever. They are waivered of for any Administrative, Coaching skills,etc related questions. Just hoping that some progressive thinking leader will come forward, one day, and understand the gravity of the situation and your recommendations! http://healthcareindia-drruchibhatt.blogspot.com/ This should be the Reply!

(From a friend Shashank)

Dear Mr. Charlesworth,
It is sad that you left like this. Leave aside a handful of your dedicated fans and another few who looked at your recommendations in a neutral manner, there aren’t many who felt moved by your unavoidable departure.
You put up with a system with which we ourselves are fed up. It is something like, if I ask someone what can be done to change things in Hockey they will say,”Nothing will ever going to change … these administrators will kill the game completely.”
The underlying fact is, “Not many have courage to work towards to positive change.” That is why the administrators rule the game.
You were smart enough to interact with so many people that you understood the whole system in and out.
I once argued with a person pleading, “Atleast accept that something is wrong here. We can then take steps towards bettering it.”
The response I got was, “No, the way you see it is wrong. It works like this only.”
That sums up the whole situation.
Your mistake was that you found a problem in our system. For us, our system is the tremendous pool of players (and talent) that we have! That, by the virtue of above argument, is flawless and no one else has it to such a capacity.
We will keep pushing for recognition on this premise, no matter any medals come our way or not.
Your another mistake is, you have left our system stark naked. Because the fact is, we will not accept it. No matter, how embarrasing it is for anyone else, we won’t accept this.
Second lastly, we will keep harping on the 8 Gold Medals that we won, sometime! We have a fascination for history.
As one of the popular movie songs says: ulti seedhi .. jaisi bhi hai .. apni yahi kahani … phir bhi dil hai hindustani …!
(whatever it is .. but we still are Indians)
Last but not the least, you should learn that in India if one wins a medal or a national level award, they have every right to rule the arena, thereafter, forever. They are waivered of for any Administrative, Coaching skills,etc related questions.

Just hoping that some progressive thinking leader will come forward, one day, and understand the gravity of the situation and your recommendations!

http://healthcareindia-drruchibhatt.blogspot.com/

]]> By: Dr Ruchi Bhatt http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-47 Dr Ruchi Bhatt Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:33:12 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-47 Its sad to see everybody talking about malpractices in our Indian Hockey Team- say it be fielding senior (over-age)players at junior Asia cup, or match fixing (however condemned by S.Singh recently).Here comes oe new add-on, Not clearing Dues of Ric Charlesworth.Another is "Inflexibility".Well, its actually a big allegation, and if in case the allegation is justified, Then WE ARE IN BIG DANGER.Some points he mentioned before he left were: Indian hockey cannot run on anecdotes, there has to be some reality. The change has to come from within. I love India, it is a country of incredible contrasts. Corporatise hockey in India, that's the best way to put in place a professional structure. All the support staff of the team needs to have a proper contract. One good thing is that Indian media is interested in hockey and transparency to the media is very essential. What is the aspiration of a hockey player here? Playing for the country, maybe. But what he really wants is a secure job. He doesn’t think about getting a medal in Olympics for his country, he just wants to earn his livelyhood. India may do well in a one-off tournament in 2009. Everyone will feel happy for a while. But sustainable results? No, that’s not going to happen. The first thing they should do is to accept their mistakes and not make excuses and then go about rectifying the grey areas. The good thing is that we are hosting 2010 hockey world cup! Its sad to see everybody talking about malpractices in our Indian Hockey Team- say it be fielding senior (over-age)players at junior Asia cup, or match fixing (however condemned by S.Singh recently).Here comes oe new add-on, Not clearing Dues of Ric Charlesworth.Another is “Inflexibility”.Well, its actually a big allegation, and if in case the allegation is justified, Then WE ARE IN BIG DANGER.Some points he mentioned before he left were:

Indian hockey cannot run on anecdotes, there has to be some reality.
The change has to come from within.
I love India, it is a country of incredible contrasts.
Corporatise hockey in India, that’s the best way to put in place a professional structure.
All the support staff of the team needs to have a proper contract.
One good thing is that Indian media is interested in hockey and transparency to the media is very essential.
What is the aspiration of a hockey player here? Playing for the country, maybe. But what he really wants is a secure job. He doesn’t think about getting a medal in Olympics for his country, he just wants to earn his livelyhood.
India may do well in a one-off tournament in 2009. Everyone will feel happy for a while. But sustainable results? No, that’s not going to happen.
The first thing they should do is to accept their mistakes and not make excuses and then go about rectifying the grey areas.

The good thing is that we are hosting 2010 hockey world cup!

]]> By: Joe http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-45 Joe Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:42:18 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-45 PHL is a flopshow because there were NO international players. NO proper TV Coverage. NO Marketing...etc... ( side note : One DD sports commentator is enough to kill a championship :lol: These tournaments should be handled by professional sports management organisations. neither IHF not IOA have the mojo to "manage" such events. PHL is a flopshow because there were NO international players. NO proper TV Coverage. NO Marketing…etc… ( side note : One DD sports commentator is enough to kill a championship :lol:
These tournaments should be handled by professional sports management organisations. neither IHF not IOA have the mojo to “manage” such events.

]]> By: Varun http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-43 Varun Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:24:00 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-43 What happened to the PHL (with teams like Chennai Veerans etc.) - I was hoping it would have been atleast a mini-IPL kinda thing? What happened to the PHL (with teams like Chennai Veerans etc.) - I was hoping it would have been atleast a mini-IPL kinda thing?

]]> By: Dr Ruchi Bhatt http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-41 Dr Ruchi Bhatt Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:37:16 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-41 The first thing that you expect from a player turned selector is he will not repeat the things that he kept crying for years when he was a player. But the biggest dissappointment in the adhoc committee was Dhanraj Pillay(personal opinion). Drop Tirkey, Thakur and Halappa and he may be getting some sadistic pleasure to see their 'come back promise' article in the newspaper. :P.Well an orphan with lots of reasons and justifications around. http://healthcareindia-drruchibhatt.blogspot.com/ The first thing that you expect from a player turned selector is he will not repeat the things that he kept crying for years when he was a player. But the biggest dissappointment in the adhoc committee was Dhanraj Pillay(personal opinion). Drop Tirkey, Thakur and Halappa and he may be getting some sadistic pleasure to see their ‘come back promise’ article in the newspaper. :P.Well an orphan with lots of reasons and justifications around.

http://healthcareindia-drruchibhatt.blogspot.com/

]]> By: nimish http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-30 nimish Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:14:55 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-30 Ah! The bureaucrats have an easy way out of this one. Politicians can't sack the IHF officials by virtue of the autonomy granted to the sports body when the country is committed to the Olympic charter. So technically the rescue act must be staged through the FIH. I know this is as weird as it gets but... Ah! The bureaucrats have an easy way out of this one. Politicians can’t sack the IHF officials by virtue of the autonomy granted to the sports body when the country is committed to the Olympic charter. So technically the rescue act must be staged through the FIH. I know this is as weird as it gets but…

]]> By: Joe http://www.indiaatlondon.com/2008/10/22/fih-adopts-the-orphan-that-is-indian-hockey/#comment-18 Joe Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:21:29 +0000 http://www.indiaatlondon.com/?p=15#comment-18 I think its time that we realise that we need professionalism in coach and there is a serious lack of it in India. I was told ( am not sure) that IHF is one of the richest sports federations due to bulk govt funding. Now since its our National sports, why cant government intervene and set up a new set of office bearers at national and state level, who are either ex-players or umpires ,coaches etc. Stupid politicans need to be kept at least 100 KM way from such initiatives. I think its time that we realise that we need professionalism in coach and there is a serious lack of it in India. I was told ( am not sure) that IHF is one of the richest sports federations due to bulk govt funding. Now since its our National sports, why cant government intervene and set up a new set of office bearers at national and state level, who are either ex-players or umpires ,coaches etc.

Stupid politicans need to be kept at least 100 KM way from such initiatives.

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