Reid said that I am responsible for not having a mental conditioning coach before the World Cup
India head coach Graham Reid has blamed himself for not having a mental conditioning coach ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. India could not even make it to the quarter finals of the World Cup. They thrashed reigning Asian Games champions Japan 8-0 in a classification match here on Thursday. After the match, Reid said that being the hosts put extra pressure on the team, which at times created difficulties.
He said in the press conference after the match, “Being the host in this World Cup, there was extra pressure on the team. Sometimes it creates difficulties in going ahead with the process. I believe so. Reid said, “There was talk of having a mental conditioning coach but at the time I didn’t think it was needed.” I felt that I have enough experience to meet such requirements of the players.
After the crossover match loss to New Zealand in Bhubaneswar, Reid had said that a mental conditioning coach was needed to help the players deal with the pressure. Reid said, “We had to deal with Kovid-19 and it was not easy to recover from such things. This was followed by the Asian Games and later they were postponed. We could not hire a mental conditioning coach in the end and I take the responsibility for that.
Reid also said that teams like Australia and Netherlands have mental conditioning coaches. He said that the mental conditioning coach should be an Indian. The 58-year-old Reid, who hails from Australia, also supported the national federation’s efforts to start the Hockey India League. This league is not being organized since 2017.
He said, “Is there a club culture in India. I’m not certain. We need this kind of competition. We need a competition that is close to international competitions. ”””’ Reid said, ” Earlier Hockey India League was organized which was very good. Such a league would make the job a little easier. There is no one in world hockey who would not like to see the Hockey India League being organised.
Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey recently told PTI that the Hockey India League is expected to start later this year. Reid said it was important to do well against Japan with the Asian Games being held later this year. “The Asian Games are coming up later this year and we have to play Japan then, so it was important to do well against them,” he added.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh also said that it becomes difficult at times to overcome the pressure in front of a large home crowd. Harmanpreet said, “It becomes a bit difficult for less experienced players when they play in a packed stadium. Even experienced players sometimes cannot handle the pressure. So it was difficult.
He said, “But if you focus on your game, you can take the support of the spectators in a positive way. This is a good lesson for us. If we play in such an environment again, we know how to prepare mentally for it.
