Need to start afresh
Pargat Singh

A lot has been said and written in the last few days about the downfall of Indian hockey. Now it is time to get over the anger and anguish and get down to some real soul-searching and work out a plan for the future. Long-term planning is often ignored by Indian sports authorities.

A defeat of this kind is sometimes just the thing that jolts us into action. And I hope the hockey community and the federation will take action, at least now.

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "quick-fix" measure. Plans have to be made in two parts — one short-term and by that I mean two to three years; and a long-term plan which will yield results over four to 10 years.

Short-term goals should be realistic and not lofty. They will also help us assess the long-term goals. There could be many angry voices too that suggest that India should stop sending teams to international competitions because they are not performing well. No, that is not the solution. Exposure, camps and all measures should continue but with a purpose. First and foremost, everybody needs to keep their egos aside. Former players, current players, officials and numerous other "well-wishers" have suddenly woken up because the media is giving so much attention to the latest hockey fiasco.

A think tank needs to work out a series of steps — from conducting junior tournaments, national events and camps to counselling of players, creating opportunities for them and giving them the assurance of a secure future.

One of the major problems is that we are not able to attract sponsors for junior events. Sponsors need to be given value and that’s what the promoters and the federation need to work on. If you present a sponsor with a plan — something like a business plan that venture capitalists want before funding projects — there is no reason why they will not be willing to cooperate. The sponsors stand to gain by associating with a healthy activity that will get social appreciation.

The Chile disaster was the saddest day in Indian hockey, maybe even for Indian sport. Hockey fans not only in India but all over the world must have been disappointed. World hockey needs India, which is why the international hockey body has been so keen to help us.

Monday morning news from Santiago was a wake-up call. We must clearly see the signals. In the past we chose to ignore them and have now paid a heavy price for it. We need to go back to the drawing board and start afresh. But for that we must infuse new blood. Not just in the team, but all around, including in the federation.