Indian hockey team needs psychologist: Brasa

Pune: Stressing on the need for a sports psychologist, Indian hockey team`s chief coach Jose Brasa

today said the apathy of the officials had prevented one from being appointed in the post so far. "I am of the view that the team needs a psychologist who will talk to each of the players one by one and not address them sitting them in a team meeting. A Sport psychologist should be with the team full time," he told reporters here. A Spanish national - Eneko Larumbe - was to be here (in India) by September 16, but he is still losing weight over a phone call, he added. "He (Larumbe) had a talk with the officials of Hockey India about his appointment, but the second talk about his visa and tickets is yet to happen. He is losing his weight waiting for the call," Brasa said. Asked whether the team will seek his services when they move on to Spain, where they are acheduled to play three practice matches, he said, "That won`t be possible. The rules here say that he must first come to Delhi to sign the contract." Taking a dig at the way the sport is being run in the country by its administrators, Brasa said he was happy with the team`s performance though it could have performed better if not for the apathy of the officials. "Everybody including the Minister, secretary, joint secretary had promised us that we will get all the material ready once we comeback from Canada. I think no one knows that we have returned from Canada," he told reporters here. "I think we have improved a little bit (since his taking over the team). But we should have improved more but for the equipment provided to us. For the tools we have, we have performed very well," he said. All that we had used for were tools like the GPRS, and laptops to work on the matches, he added. Brasa criticised the selectors` decision to try out during the tours of Europe and Canada as it did not help in having a settled outfit. "To test players you need to play at home. You cannot change them abroad. Six players out of the 22 selected for the Canada tour were new. It means almost 20-30 per cent of the team had been changed." Asked about the targets he had set for himself as the coach of the Indian team, he said, "my target is to get the Indian team into the the top four by 2010." About things that he would like to change in the way hockey is played in India, he said, "the most difficult things is the way things are organised here. The players play in a natural way. They do the same every match. Also they tend to play alone. Team work is more important for co-ordination." "We are also trying to mix the Indian attack with the European defence," he added. Asserting that he was excited at the prospect of the team playing in the forthcoming Men`s Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina, Brasa said, the team will not only play for a win there but also to improve its rankings. "This is the first official competition as the coach of the Indian team. I`m very happy that my debut for India is coming." "Out of this tournament our aim is not only to win it but to jump higher in the world rankings from our current position that will ensure that we are placed in Group B in the next year`s World Cup. We have an opportunity to leapfrog over Canada but it is difficult to go past Argentina even if we win all our matches as they would have to finish last for us to do so. " The 22-member Indian team will participate in the eight-nation event in Salta, Argentina from December 6-13, the winner of which will qualify for next year`s Champions Trophy. India will play their first group match against New Zealand on December 6 before taking on China (December 8) and Belgium (December 10). The final will be played on December 13. The Indian team will leave for Madrid on November 23 for a one-week training-cum-competition tour en-route Salta. Bureau Report