Junior national coach Baljeet Singh Saini sat glued during the China vs Bangladesh men’s encounter of the Hockey World League Round 2 in the capital two days ago.
He had been asked to keep note of the four midfield zones — of the total eight in a hockey field — and report to International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master coach Tayyab Ikram. “I had to assess the number of times Bangladesh players are able to snatch the ball from the opposition in this area and its impact on the game,” said Saini. “It gives an insight on how vast a coaching job can be.
“Many times we think that we know a lot. But the kind of things we learnt under the FIH course gave us a new perspective.”
The seven-day high performance course concluded on Friday. A total of 25 coaches from across the country participated in the second part of this course conducted by Ikram and FIH Grade 1 coach Siegfried Aikman. During the course, the world body launched a new coaching development tool, named coaching webinar. The first-of-its-kind in India, it connected participants via a web camera, supported with various video clips to enhance the learning experience.