National Sports Day 2024 | PR Sreejesh: You must enjoy the sport, if you don't, then it's just business
Celebrated Indian hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh says Indian sports are on the right track but emphasises the need for grassroots talent development.
Indian field hockey icon PR Sreejesh says Indian sports is going in the right direction. “The government is helping us. The central government has initiated several programmes like Khelo India. But what is missing is creating talent at the grassroots level,” says the former India captain and the goalkeeper of the national hockey team that won bronze in the recently concluded Paris Olympics.
On the occasion of National Sports Day today, Sreejesh says, “It should be mandatory for every student to play a sport. I have seen in several schools, especially in urban areas, there are no playgrounds. Even if there are playgrounds, they are very small. There should be better playgrounds, and students should be given options on the sports they want to play.”
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He says days like National Sports Day should be celebrated more. “The day serves as a reminder to the people of India that sports is really important and this day celebrates a wizard of hockey,” adding, “As a hockey player, I am very proud that National Sports Day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand.”
Sreejesh says he is concerned that considering India is a country of 1.4 billion people, India is not winning enough medals. His message to young people looking to make it big in sports is: “You must enjoy the sport you are playing. If you don’t enjoy it, then it’s business and not sport. You must spend a lot of time learning the basics and you must work very hard.”
The Olympics bronze
Asked how he and the Indian team celebrated after their bronze win, he says the celebrations were muted. “We were happy but not super happy,” the 36-year-old says. “We were a team that could have played the finals and not just the semi-finals,” says Sreejesh. At the Paris Olympics, India lost the semi-finals to Germany 2-3 and then won the bronze medal match against Spain 2-1. This was the Indian hockey team’s second successive bronze at the Olympics. The team won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics too.
Describing the celebrations, Sreejesh says, “After the medal ceremony we returned to the [Olympic] village. Gagan Narayan, who was the chef de mission, a former shooter and an Olympic medallist, arranged Indian food for us. That was the best thing for us because normally, in the Olympics village, you won’t get Indian food. You get options but not the real Indian flavour. The spices were minimal. But after the medal, we had spicy, authentic Indian food.”
Talking about the iconic photograph of him sitting on the goalpost after the victory against Spain, Sreejesh says, “It is something to remember me for life, and maybe after that too.”
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'Hockey only a part of my life'
Sreejesh says he was not born a star. “I was a stand-by goalkeeper, a third goalkeeper, a fourth goalkeeper in the under-16 team. In 2004, I joined the Under-21 team. I played till 2008 in the juniors as their main goalkeeper. Those years were really good for me to strengthen my base,” he shares, adding that he was a stand-by player in the senior squad for around one and half years.
“From 2011 onwards, I was among the faces of Indian hockey. But then in between I had an injury that took 8-9 months. But even that helped me think in a different way. A sportsperson in India is often thinking too much about sport. Your family comes second, your job third and social life further down the priority list. These periods helped me realise that hockey is not my life, but a part of my life,” Sreejesh says.
The one thing that haunts the legend is not being able to win the World Cup, he says. Asked how he deals with such regrets, the 36-year-old says, “I always express my emotions, I don’t hold anything back. If I am angry, I show it, if I am happy, I show that, if I have to cry, I cry.”
Summing up his journey as a hockey player, Sreejesh, who announced his retirement after India won a second successive Olympic bronze medal, says, “My journey is like a train journey. Like that of a person who knows where to go but doesn’t have a confirmed ticket. When I look back today, I think I earned it (the awards and recognition). I worked hard for it. But every moment, situation, failure, and success helped me to become what I'm today."