Hockey players to tackle English lessons soon

Aspiring kids who wish to represent India in the junior hockey team will not only have to master the sport's skills but also arm themselves with knowledge of English from now on.

Hockey India (HI) has decided to introduce English tuition classes during the junior camps that will start soon. A group of 33 boys and girls will be selected this week from the ongoing selection trials for India's next set of junior teams.

"We're not asking the players to grasp the entire English language," said HI's high performance director, David John. "We're looking more at hockey terms. Foreign coaches that come can explain the hockey terms and strategies better, and our students can understand things more than they have in the past."

Thus, in every national camp in Bengaluru that lasts for about six-eight weeks on an average, players will have to attend the English classes every hour for four days a week.

John said the importance of learning English has increased in this era of modern hockey, where there is a constant need to communicate with umpires due to player referrals.

But it won't be just one-way learning, though. Even the foreign coaches who are associated with Indian hockey will have to learn some Hindi for better communication.

"Certainly, our foreign coaches should learn Hindi as well. I think it should work both ways. We're living in your country, learning your culture and eating your food, so we should learn some of your language as well.

"Plus, we'll still use our Indian coaches to interpret and expand in detail. That said, players learning English is an advantage," said John, who was hired as the high performance director in November 2016.