Harendra Singh: Our eight Olympic hockey golds were great but who saw them happen? Premium

Former India coach Harendra Singh reflects on his coaching experience in the USA, highlighting the importance of documentation and scientific approaches in hockey.

Three years ago, Harendra Singh made a life-changing decision. The former India coach, one among a handful of certified master coaches in world hockey and the only one from the country, decided he had had enough of playing second fiddle to foreign appointees at home, refused to compromise on his demands and moved to the USA.

As the chief coach of the USA men’s team, Harendra readily agreed to help the women’s team in its quest for excellence. Its success at the recent Olympic Qualifiers, where it beat India before eventually qualifying for Paris, owed a lot to his inputs, both in terms of planning and player understanding (he was also the India women’s coach for a period). Back in the country for the FIH Pro League, Harendra spoke candidly to The Hindu on a range of subjects. Excerpts:

Three years in professional sport in the USA, how has the experience been?

My experience in India was hands-on. All my practical and theoretical knowledge here was self-generated — why my teams succeeded or failed and how to convert the failures to success. Unfortunately, it began and ended with me. There is no documentation of anything in India.

There is always talk of doing it but on ground, I think less than 0.001 percent work has been done. We are only depending on a player’s skills and natural aptitude for medals. Scientifically and in the use of technology and research, we are far behind. I believe we have the potential to be in the top five at any major event, including the Olympics, but not without the back-room work.

When I become coach here, I have nothing to know what the previous coach did. And when I leave, the next coach won’t have any official documentation or data.

This has been my biggest learning experience in the USA. There is proper documentation at every step, data is available and you have to keep adding to it. I think proper documentation is very important for any organisation to have a proper system and for that system to work effortlessly.