Chief Coach of the Indian Men’s Hockey team Michael Nobbs feels that 2012 was a mixed year for the Indian mens team in terms of results from various tournaments. But at the same time, he believes that 2013 will be an important year for the team with a lot of quality tournaments to be played in and outside the country. With the Hero Hockey India league starting from 14 January 2013, it will play a crucial role in the development of young players to learn from International stars. Mr Nobbs also feels that HHIL will be a platform for young players to show their talent.

Question 1 – How do you see the overall performance of the Indian men team in 2012?

Answer- 2012 was a year of mixed results, qualifying for the Olympics after 8 years was our primary goal and that we did well. After the Olympics we made a good start to the rebuilding process of the team with selectors view of looking to the future. The FIH Champions Trophy in finishing top of our pool and making the semi finals justified the selectors view of where we need to head and then following this tournament up with finishing top of the group stage at the Asian Champions Trophy and narrowly losing the final showed we are making good progress.

Question 2 – Who are the upcoming youngsters of Indian Hockey?

Answer- Rupinder Pal Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh and Kothajit all had very good performances but then most of the team played very well and showed great character in the recent games.

Question 3 – What are your plans for 2013?

Answer- I think fans will see quality hockey in the new year with the Hero Hockey India League and then FIH World league Round 2 to be held in Delhi from 18 February. We will also will be concentrating largely on the junior teams preparations for the Junior World Cup which will be hosted in India in December 2013.

Question 4 – What will be the areas in which you will focus in 2013?

Answer- This is a year that we will be using to build the base of International players so that we have a pool of at least 30 players that can compete at an International level. With a number of series in India this year, it will give us an opportunity to bring more players into the national group so that when the major tournaments come along we will have the ability to pick our strongest team.

Question 5 – How important is Hero Hockey India League? 

Answer- This is extremely important as the players will work with top international coaches learning different styles, patterns and training techniques as well as learning from the international players in their teams. Too long has hockey been in the wilderness and the players and fans have been starved of the magic of hockey. The fans will see world class hockey and a wonderful spectacle of our great game.

Question 6 – Do you think this league will help in the development of Indian Hockey?

Answer- Certainly this will help our young players who are watching and those who are playing, see the exciting magic that Sardar Singh, Jamie Dwyer and Teun de Nooijer produce and hopefully want to play like them and be like them.