Hockey India announces special coaching camp for sub-junior teams; appoints Sardar Singh, Rani Rampal as chief coaches (Ld)

Chennai, Aug 10 (IANS) Hockey India on Thursday announced a special coaching camp and international matches for the sub-junior men’s and women’s teams with former skipper Sardar Singh, and former women's captain Rani Rampal taking up the mentorship and coach's roles.

Sardar Singh will coach the Indian U-17 boys' team while Rani Rampal will be in charge of the girls' side. The decision was taken by the sport's governing body during its 100th Executive Board Meeting.

Talking about the new innings, Sardar Singh said, "It is very important to have a uniform program at the national level for this age group. I have always enjoyed working with youngsters. I look forward to this stint and experience the world-class infrastructure in Rourkela."

"Following the same methods as that of the junior and senior programs is a big step forward in creating uniform training for grassroots level players, so in the future, they won't find it difficult to adapt when they progress to junior or senior national camps," she was quoted as saying in a release.

"The playing structure will also be similar to what's followed by the senior teams so, I believe this camp will be a big step forward in the growth of the sport. All in all, our complete focus will be on the all-round development of sub-junior players and our aim will be to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead," said Rani.

The coaching camp aims at promoting and developing a strong grassroots structure and providing the sub-junior talent with a high-performance environment.

The men and women camp will be for 45-50 days and will commence on August 21, 2023, at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela. It will then be followed by international matches in Belgium and the Netherlands.

A total of 40 players will be selected for each of the sub-junior men and sub-junior women camps. The players have been chosen on the basis of their recent performances in the Hockey India sub-junior national championships.

A qualified coaching staff consisting of a coach, two assistant coaches, two physios, two masseuses, and a trainer will be accompanying each team.

Talking about the initiative, Hockey India chief Dilip Tirkey said: "We believe it is crucial to induct players in this age group to a program that is on the same lines of the junior and senior camps that are ongoing in SAI, Bengaluru. Besides this, we are happy to welcome icons of the game -– Sardar and Rani -– both of whom are accomplished players themselves and have achieved accolades at the highest levels. They will be fabulous mentors for these young players."

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