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Journalism of Courage
Ric Charlesworth has finally checked into the Capital a week after the Indian hockey team failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. The country is now hoping Charlesworth, the Indian Hockey Federation’s technical advisor, rarely used in the last few months, will get a chance to revive a sport it once dominated.
“Winning a medal within three hours is only possible in a Bollywood flim, but not in the real world,” the Australian told The Indian Express, referring to Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak de India. “With good preparation, it will take eight to 10 years for India to win a big event.”
Tired from his long flight from Perth, the Australian wanted to catch up on some sleep after reaching the Rajdoot Hotel, where he has been put up. “The time difference has tired me out,” he said.
Sleep apart, Charlesworth is also finding it difficult to catch up with the Indian system of running hockey. He admitted that the KPS Gill-led IHF does things very differently compared to the way things function back home in Australia. Blaming the federation for the state of hockey in the country, he said: “The national squad should have played many more tough matches after the Athens Olympics,” he said. “That would’ve toughened them — mentally and physically — for the qualifiers.”
But the 55-year-old, who had been asked by the international hockey federation (FIH) to oversee a project, Promoting Indian Hockey, is uncertain about his role in his second coming. “There’s a meeting today, but I don’t know in which context it is being held.” As it turned out, Charlesworth did not attend the meeting held in the sports ministry involving some senior SAI and IHF officials, including Gill — the reason is still not known.
But while Charlesworth is confused about what he will be asked to do in India, sources in SAI said he will head a junior development plan that aims at winning a medal in the 2016 Olympic Games.
As of now, the proposed plan is:
• 100 boys and girls will be selected in the under-14, under-16 and under-18 categories for combined training.
• The programme will have two cycles — a four-year plan and an eight-year plan for the 2016 Olympics.
• Charlesworth, who will be paid $12,000 (Rs 4.8 lakh approximately) a month, will be in charge of training, coaching, planning and selection.
His role with the senior team is still undefined. But Charlesworth indicated he would not be happy with a role with the junior players only. “I haven’t been told anything but I have not come here for that,” he said. “If things stay the same way, if they don’t change, I don’t see any point in my sticking on in India.”
