New Delhi: The 10-member ‘Team, Coaching and High Performance Evaluation Committee’ formed by Hockey India after the Rabobank Hockey World Cup held its first meeting at Hotel The Lalit in New Delhi on 3rd and 4th July 2014 to evaluate the performance of the Indian Men Hockey team during the tournament.

The two-day meeting comprised of discussion, detailed presentations by Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans, Chief Coach (Men) Terry Walsh and Scientific Advisor Mathew Eyles wherein highlighting team initiatives taken for the build up to the World Cup 2014. Each element was put under extensive scrutiny and a detailed analysis to assist the forthcoming performance was done during the meeting. The analysis highlighted video sessions and match strategies for pre and post half time during every match, and preparation on the fitness of players.

Further to this, Roelant Oltmans and Terry Walsh also presented their constructive plans on improving the performance of the team in the future major events including the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. The former Olympians and international players who are part of this Committee also shared their inputs during this meeting on which Hockey India will work closely with the Coaches during future camps.


The Committee member and former Captain of the 1975 World Cup Winning Team Ajit Pal Singh said “We analysed the positives alongwith the negatives during the World Cup. The penalty area is an area of concern and it has been taken into consideration and we will be working on it and improving on it for the upcoming tournaments. We know we will see good times in this year itself.”


Another member and former Olympian Harbinder Singh “We hope through these meetings we will be successful in working on our weak spots. The physical tests of the players have been outstanding which will help us do better in Asian Games which is important to qualify for the Olympics.”


Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans said “We discussed the insights into the way we prepare the team for future and make sure that we keep on improving. Outcome was not what we hoped for but we are in a transition phase and it will take some time to witness a spike in our performance which we all are looking forward to. The team performed as a unit and the second half during all the matches were high class when compared to other countries.”


Chief Coach Terry Walsh said “It has been a productive two days with a lot of information flowing and we are now better aware of what everyone needs to do in the future. India was physiologically good in the second half than most of the team during the World Cup which is very important to survive in modern games. We were the youngest team in the World Cup and we will grow considerably. With this meeting we are much more closely aligned as to how each one is working and contributing”.


Speaking on India conceding goals in the dying moments of crucial matches, Terry Walsh said “it was purely an experience issue as the team is very young. There were moments where we could have performed better. These are learning for us. Also, physiologically the players have developed immensely which is a positive.”


In a statement issued earlier, on the need to create this evaluation committee Dr. Narinder Batra, Secretary General Hockey India said “Keeping in mind our performance during the just culminated World Cup at The Hague we realized that we need to access the deliverables post every tournament. This is yet another initiative to ensure that we get Hockey as a sport back to the stature which it enjoyed once. The meeting brought to the forefront certain key areas where the team is lacking in and which Chief Coach Terry Walsh alongwith Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans will be working on ahead of the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games 2014.”

The 10 member team comprised of

(1) Dr. Narinder Batra (Chairman)
(2) Ms. Elena Norman (Convenor)
(3) Mr. Harbinder Singh
(4) Mr. Ajit Pal Singh
(5) Col. Balbir Singh
(6) Mr. B P Govinda
(7) Mr. Ashok Kumar
(8) Mr. S S Grewal
(9) Mr. A B Subbaiah
(10) Mr. Samir Dad

The Sports Authority of India is the Invitee Member of the Committee.