Indian Men’s Junior Hockey Team Coach PR Sreejesh in an exclusive interview with IANS speaks on various topics. On his experience as the junior men's team coach he said that, Being a host, you are already qualified for the Junior World Cup. But I personally felt like that is not the way to get into a tournament. You should get into a tournament in the right way like a champion walking into the tournament. So, that's what I mentioned to my players. You are not here to take the, you know, being like a host or a quota, you should walk into the Junior World Cup like a champion. How it feels to be on the other side of the field he said that I think I realised it. I told myself that Sreejesh, you are no longer a player. You are a coach now and you do have restrictions, you do have limitations. So, I realised this first, then only I stepped into these shoes. On winning second consecutive bronze medal in Paris Olympics sreejesh said that I was not really happy with that because I always felt that we deserved to be in the finals, for sure. Or maybe to win the tournament. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. But when you are in the Olympic Games, coming back, coming home with a medal is more important than coming back home with an empty hand. On youngsters getting platform with HIL he replied that Seriously, it's going to be a nursery for them. They can learn anything. They can learn everything from this tournament, from starting from, you see the pressure handling because you are playing in front of a very big crowd.
#prsreejesh #formergoalkeeper #indianhockeyteam #menshockeyjuniorteam #parisolympics
#prsreejesh #formergoalkeeper #indianhockeyteam #menshockeyjuniorteam #parisolympics
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00:00It's a great experience for me. As a coach, the first tournament we finished on the podium, that was fantastic for me.
00:07That tournament was fantastic because we learned about everything.
00:12The first thing is that with one goal difference, we missed a spot in the finals.
00:17Second thing is that we drew a match, we won a shootout, we got two cards at a time and I think we lost a match.
00:25I think that was a fantastic tournament to learn.
00:29From there, we jumped into the Junior World Cup, which was really important for us because it's a qualifier round for the Junior World Cup.
00:40But being a host, you are already qualified for the Junior World Cup, but I personally felt like that is not the way to get into a tournament.
00:49You should get into a tournament in the right way, like a champion, walking into the tournament.
00:54That's what I mentioned to my players. You are not here to be like a host or a quota, you should walk into the Junior World Cup like a champion.
01:04And that is what they have done throughout the tournament. They played a really good tournament.
01:07For me personally, that was a great experience because playing a match is totally different than standing on the sideline and asking the players to play the game.
01:18Because being a player, you trust yourself. Even if the defenders or forwards make any mistakes, you always feel like you are good enough to manage or cover their mistake.
01:28So, here, you are helpless. You are training them and you are expecting them to perform really well.
01:35If something goes wrong also, you just need to hold the frustration back and you just need to ask them to play better game.
01:43So, two different extreme level of experience. But I enjoyed it. My experience with the team from last decades, helping me to manage these pressure situations in a better way.
01:57I think I realized it. I told myself that Srijesh, you are not anymore a player. You are a coach now and you do have restrictions, you do have limitations.
02:08So, I realized this first. Then only I stepped into these shoes. So, automatically, that is what happened.
02:16When you realize it, you are ready to accept it. And whatever things happens apart from that, you just ignore it.
02:22And that is what happened with me. Sometimes I feel like, come on, Sree.
02:28Then I wrote. I do have a book with me every time during a game. Then I wrote in my book, Sree, you are not a player anymore. You are a coach. Understand. That's it.
02:36Then automatically, you realize, okay, come on. Then you started to cheer up. Then you started to look into the technical part of the game rather than the emotion or the hard part of the game.
02:47The best part is that you are not individual. When you are playing, it's always feeling like you just need to focus on your game.
02:58But when you are a coach, your team is your major importance. All the 40 players comes under you or the coaching staff comes under you. They are your responsibility.
03:14So, that's two extreme things. And I always believe that the team is your responsibility. The result is your responsibility.
03:25So, the responsibility comes in a different way. Because as a player, the responsibility comes like, okay, I want to do my best to take my team into the podium.
03:33But here, it's like I want them to do their best to take the team into the podium. So, I believe that it's two different ways.
03:42And being there in the goalpost for such a long time, helping me a lot to take up the other part in a better way.
03:50Personal satisfaction, I was not really happy with that. Because I always felt that we deserve to be in the finals for sure.
03:58Or maybe to win the tournament. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. But when you are in Olympic Games, coming back, coming home with a medal is more important than coming back home with an empty hand.
04:12So, as an individual, when you ask me this question, I say that it was pretty disappointing for me.
04:21But when it comes to ask as a player who played his last match in an Olympic Games, in a decision match like winning a bronze medal or losing a bronze medal, then I am more than happy.
04:35Because in the entire world, people always talk about Sridhar Shetty sitting on that goalpost with a bronze medal saying goodbye to this game.
04:44That is going to be the last picture or that is going to be the first picture that comes into their mind when they think about me.
04:50Delhi SG Papers, what a talented youngsters here in this team. Good team, good spirit players.
04:59Here, I think with a director's post or you can say a mentor's post, my duty is to take this team into their best performance.
05:07I just keep on telling my players that just enjoy this tournament boys. Because it's not less than an international match.
05:14You are playing against the top players in this world. You are playing alongside with the best players in the world.
05:19So you can learn a lot of things. You can try a lot of things. And this is the platform where you can get direct tickets to the national team.
05:27So, just enjoy this period. It's really important. So, me as a director, I am also learning a lot of things from this.
05:36So, it's going to be a new start for Indian Hockey. Seriously, it's going to be a nursery for them.
05:42They can learn anything here. They can learn everything from this tournament.
05:45Starting from, you see the pressure handling because you are playing in front of a very big crowd.
05:51And second thing is, in a short span of time, you are playing a lot of matches. More than 10, more than 12 matches you are playing.
05:57Or if you are getting into the finals, I mean around 16 matches you are playing.
06:01Then after that, when it comes to a team, you are learning from the seniors or from the foreigners.
06:07You are learning about the team management, how you are motivating the players, how you are communicating during a team meeting.
06:13Or how you are taking initiative in a training session. Or how are you preparing yourself for a match.
06:18Or how are you cooling down, warming down after a match. So, you can learn everything here.
06:24And most importantly, you mature as a player. You mature as an international player.
06:31It's not for the beginners, but for anyone. Even the players, those who are playing at the international level also.
06:37They can learn from the seniors, those who are part of this tournament.
06:41See, we got some shares. German and Raju from the last Olympics.
06:46And Varun Kumar definitely from the 2021 Olympic Games who got the flavor of the Olympics medal.
06:53So, they are excited to be here. I believe that they can guideline these youngsters from my junior squad.
06:59The players from the under-21s. Rohit, Ankit, Kingston, Dilraj, Saurabh.
07:07So, these players can learn from the seniors, first of all.
07:11Second, when you are going into the foreign players, Vetti.
07:16Jake Whetton is one of the senior most players from Australia. He recently got retired.
07:22He is going to be part of our team.
07:24And who else? Kerry, Farlong. You can take the names. All the experienced players coming here.
07:31So, it's a great opportunity for Samsher as well to learn the leadership quality.
07:37He is always part of the team but he never got the responsibility of a captain or vice-captain.
07:41But now, we made him the captain. Now, he needs to step into the next role.
07:44He is always a great player. He is always a good teammate.
07:47But now, he got an extra duty to take care of the team.
07:53Pull the youngsters into their level.
07:56Compare the seniors and the foreigners to the juniors together to make a good team.
08:01To play a wonderful tournament and taking our SG papers into the best of this tournament.
08:06See, I think it's a big opportunity for all of them.
08:09I mean, Patak and Suraj is there definitely.
08:12Because they joined me after 2016 Junior World Cup.
08:16From there, they were there with me from almost 8 years.
08:19So, I know these guys from childhood till now.
08:22They are doing a wonderful job. They are great goalkeepers.
08:25Simultaneously, Pawan is doing good.
08:27And Mohit who played the last Junior World Cup.
08:29They are doing great jobs.
08:30They are pushing Suraj or Patak into the next level.
08:35The healthy competition happening.
08:36These four are going to help Indian hockey or Indian goalkeeping to get into the next level.
08:42So, I think I have done my part.
08:44I set a level.
08:45So now, it's their duty to push their level into the higher level.
08:48So that the upcoming players will trust the goalkeeping better.
08:52I mean, in a better way.
08:54And I hope these people will never make...
08:59What's this?
09:00They will not create any situation.
09:02They miss me on the field.