The Asian Hockey Federation, organised online seminars specifically for Hockey India

On December 5, the first online training seminar for Hockey India employees has already been held. A total of four such lectures are planned. The Asian Hockey Federation holds them.

So that after the start of the pandemic coach, technical workers and judges do not lose touch and continue to develop their skills, online seminars were held in July, August, September, October and November 2020. These are training events that allow people from different parts of the country to discuss important issues in real-time. Thus, they can analyse the main hockey strategies, team errors, the most difficult situations that can arise during refereeing.

These events were a great success, so the Asian Hockey Federation organised a similar session in December for Hockey India. On Saturday, December 5, the first training lecture was already held. Each lesson will be attended by a trainer, judges, and technical workers. The total number of participants in one event is from 12 to 30. The interaction of specialists from the fields of hockey is essential because this is the only way to consider issues and problems comprehensively. It also contributes to a greater understanding now, which in theory will lead to an alleviation of the situation on the field during games.

Thanks to the fact that for the past five months, everyone actively interacted, attended seminars, worked out information and shared their experience, specialists were able to advance in their areas significantly. All this time, participants collected expertise, developed training plans. Equally important, the judges looked at legal and specific situations that could occur on the field. This will allow judges to respond correctly and not lose control over the situation. After all, it is not always possible to unequivocally judge something during the match, and everyday work helps to overcome this barrier. Each seminar consists of a three to the four-hour session and is held free of charge.

Many people are involved in the organisation of all events. Taiab Ikram, who is the executive director of the Asian Hockey Federation, outlined the purpose of the seminars. He said that the main task is to bring the knowledge of coaches, technical workers and judges to a new level. It depends on the qualifications of specialists how the country’s teams will show themselves in competitions. Also, the right specialist demonstrates the level of organisation and its prestige. However, the purpose of all activities is not limited only to the benefit of the federation. The judge, the coach, who shows good results, can always count on rewards, and can also change their place of work without problems, without feeling any discomfort and fears. The main thing is that later this knowledge will be applied in the field, then the efforts will be justified.

Ms Lalremruati Chiangte, National Umpire from Hockey Mizoram, also expressed her admiration. She is certainly glad that all this time, a large number of judges had the opportunity to grow and improve. The judge appreciated the tremendous efforts made by Hockey India and the Asian Hockey Federation to create a similar course. She noted that such seminars deal not only with personal cases not known to the general public but also with situations from the international arena. Since India is now trying to become one of the leaders of world hockey, such knowledge is more valuable than ever. Lalremruati Chiang also said that she has noticeably grown during this time; an understanding of many hockey-related processes has come. She can’t wait to put knowledge into practice.

During these months, Indian certified coaches were able to establish communication with colleagues from abroad, which brought a lot of benefits. It is imperative in the competition process to have contact with the opposite side, but it is even more critical to understand how they think. A lot affects the style of play. Learning closer to other coaches, you can realise that they are focusing, try new techniques in training with the team and teach them something new. A fresh vision always helps to achieve better results. All this will help without overloading athletes to perform more and play better.

The President of Hockey India said:

“I highly appreciate the efforts of the Asian Hockey Federation. In recent months, our judges and coach did not waste time in vain. They worked hard. The result was that they acquired invaluable knowledge that will help us rise to another stage in the world hockey community. It was thanks to the seminars that the coach and judges were able to stay in the working element. This is important because, after a long break without such events, recovery would take months that we do not have. I am therefore grateful to the Asian Hockey Federation for the opportunity. “

Upon completion of the training session, each participant will receive a certificate. This certificate will be one of the evidence that a person is a qualified specialist. Therefore, the document will be taken into account in the future FIH & AHF Course Selection.