Jude Felix Sebastian played more than 250 matches for India as a half-back, appeared at two Olympics and two World Cups, and captained the side from 1993 to 1995. He is one of the few Indians to win both the Arjuna Award as a player and the Dronacharya Award as a coach. He grew up in Bangalore’s Anglo-Indian community, which gave Indian hockey many fine players.
Name: Jude Felix Sebastian
Born: 26 January 1965, Bangalore
Sport: Hockey
Position: Half-back
A hockey neighbourhood
Jude Felix was born in Bangalore on 26 January 1965 and studied at St Germain High School. He has said that every house in his area had a hockey stick and his brothers all played. He went to several national camps as a youngster, including the Nehru Hockey camp, played for Karnataka and the junior national team, and broke into the senior side in the mid-1980s.
He was a skilful midfielder with good control, and he was well known for his reverse-stick flick, which was less common among Indian players then than it is now.
Olympics, World Cups and Asian Games
Felix played at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and at the World Cups of 1990 in Lahore and 1994 in Sydney. He won Asian Games silver at Beijing in 1990 and Hiroshima in 1994. He also played in three Champions Trophy tournaments.
Captain of India
He captained India from 1993 to 1995, including at the 1994 World Cup in Sydney, where India finished fifth, and the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, where India lost the final to South Korea. He received the Arjuna Award in 1995.
Playing abroad and coaching
Like a number of Indian players of his time, Felix went abroad to make a living from the game. He played for Racing Club in France, in Lyon and for Indian Gymkhana in London, and was player-coach at the Singapore Recreation Club for long spells between 1995 and 2011.
Back in India he became a coach. He was appointed to the senior men’s coaching staff in 2014 under chief coach Terry Walsh and was named coach of the Indian junior men’s team in 2017. He also founded the Jude Felix Hockey Academy in Bangalore, which coaches children from poor families. He has been honoured with the Dronacharya Award for his coaching.
Career record and honours
- More than 250 international matches
- Olympic appearances: Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992
- World Cup appearances: Lahore 1990, Sydney 1994 (captain)
- Asian Games silver medal: Beijing 1990, Hiroshima 1994 (captain)
- India captain, 1993 to 1995
- Arjuna Award (1995)
- Dronacharya Award
