20th May, Bengaluru: It was an exciting Friday at the Sports Authority Of India, as the 29-member hockey men’s squad is getting packed up to go on a break before they could rejoin on May 29. The idea, Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans explains, was to ensure the players are feeling fresh and hungry to win ahead of the FIH Champions Trophy. “Starting June 5, the team will be away for almost a month playing two different tournaments in two different countries. Everything we do in this period will be demanding not just physically but also mentally. Though we are entering an exciting period and looking forward to the Olympics, vying to peak at Rio, it was important to take off for a week and be in a different environment,” says the high performance director for Hockey India.
However, back home, the men have been adviced to stick to a healthy diet which means no sweets or biryani and have also been given a specific program to follow. “This includes gym and running only to ensure they stay at the same fitness level, Oltmans adds.
On completion of the Champions Trophy at London, the team will leave to Valencia, Spain, to play six nations invitational tournament and will return only in the first week of July. “The national selectors are likely to meet on July 5 to pick the final squad for the Olympics. We will start the national camp on
July 11 which will be a two-week camp after we leave for Madrid, to play two friendly matches with Spain and then head to Rio and have a friendly with Spain and New Zealand. I believe we have entered a very exciting period in the lead up to the Olympics, ” Oltmans says.
While Oltmans will get to celebrate his 62nd birthday with his wife and three sons, captain for Champions Trophy Sreejesh PR is eager to meet his two-year-daughter back in Kerala. “Last night over the phone she was asking when is daddy coming home. We have been away training really hard the past six weeks and this break with family will only help us come back feeling fresh and eager to win, ” says Sreejesh.
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