Jude Felix, who on Tuesday was officially announced as coach of the junior Indian men’s hockey team, intends to see more players making the step up to the Senior ranks in the near future.
“I want to see these boys ready to be challenging for a spot in the senior team in the next 8-10 months,” Felix told The Hindu.
‘Talented players’
“These are good, talented players. The challenge is to get them to apply what they’re learning in training during a match.”
Felix, who has been in charge of the junior ‘core group’ for a couple of months now, replaced Harendra Singh, who coached India to World Cup victory on home soil last year. He denied that there was any pressure on him to match his predecessor’s feats.
“Not really. Whatever he did or didn’t do doesn’t make a difference. The point is I’ve come here to win. They’ve appointed me for the same reason. Even if we’d not won the World Cup, my goals would have been the same.”
Felix was assistant coach when the senior men’s team won the Asian Games gold in 2014, but his stint came to an abrupt end the following year. He denied he had any hesitation in taking up this job. “Not at all. On the contrary, I was excited,” he said. “It is a completely new challenge. I’ve always loved working with youngsters and this is a great chance to mould them.”
A fine centre-half who earned 250 caps for India, Felix stated that he wanted his junior side to play attacking hockey. “I want them to attack but still be solid in defence,” he said. “I’m also trying to bring back some of the old skills.”