Yogita’s appointment as coach of junior hockey team hailed

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, July 1

The appointment of Yogita Bali, goalkeeper of the Indian women’s hockey team, as the goalkeeping coach of the junior team of the country has been hailed by sportspersons.

A member of the organising committee of the Jarkhar Hockey Academy, Yogita, along with former Olympian Baljit Singh Saini has started imparting coaching to hockey probables who are attending the camp at Bengaluru for the preparation of the Junior World Cup and other international tournaments.

She has been sharing her experiences with the campers and updating them with the latest technical developments in the field of hockey. Yogita told The Tribune that her experience of playing more than one hundred international matches would come in handy during her stint as the coach.

Yogita was a member of the Indian squad that won bronze medal in the Asian Champions Trophy in 2009. She has also played in the Asian Games, Champion Challenge Cup (thrice), Asian Champions Trophy (twice) and World Hockey League Tournaments.

Yogita, currently employed with the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, said she would continue playing the game.

“There is no dearth of talented women players in the country, especially Punjab, and in the near future, girls from the state will dominate the scene and represent the national team. Hockey league for women on the pattern of the Hockey India League (men) will help a lot to improve the standard of game,” she opined.

Pargat Singh, hockey Olympian and MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, Jagroop Singh Jarkhar, Director of the Jarkhar Academy, and Iqbal Singh Sandhu, General Secretary of Surjit Hockey Society congratulated Yogita Bali.