A hastily agreed exposure trip to Australia has become a matter of contention between the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF) and junior national coach GS Bhangu. Top IWHF officials, including president Vidya Stokes, feel the upcoming 4-nation event in Australia (Jan 14-18) would be a good trip for the junior girls preparing for the World Cup at Boston from August 3-16. But coach Bhangu thinks the players need rest as they are tired after the Asia Cup.
“I don’t think they need any exposure trip now as they are not prepared for that. The girls need proper rest as they were training for the last four months for the Asia Cup, which ended 15-16 days ago,” Bhangu told Hindustan Times.
It is surprising that the IWHF accepted without consulting the coach, a last-minute invite from Australia that came its way. A senior IWHF official too opposed the trip. “It will disturb the training programme as the first camp begins on January 15,” said the official.