Coaches and players from the men's and women's national pools, currently isolated at the SAI Southern Regional Centre in Bangalore since March, intend to request permission from the sports ministry to train in small cohorts.
Given that the athletes have been in a bubble since the March 24 lockdown, with contact limited only to essential SAI personnel, they are effectively quarantined. The argument is that they can safely begin small-group workouts following social distancing guidelines, ensuring they don't lose their edge before restrictions are fully removed. These points will be raised during Thursday's online session with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. The Minister is holding these talks with various athletes to determine if Olympic qualifiers can return to a more structured training regimen.
The players and coaching staff will be putting their views in the online interaction with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday. The Sports Minister is interacting with players from various sports to get their views before the Ministry decides to allow those who have already qualified for next year’s Tokyo Olympics to start training.
The proposed plan was reviewed during Wednesday's virtual Special Congress meeting of Hockey India, which included the participation of Dr. Narinder Batra, president of the Indian Olympic Association.
Currently, players are sticking to fitness routines within their rooms at the SAI facility in Bangalore. However, both the coaching staff and Hockey India argue that transitioning to skill-specific drills—either individually or in tiny groups of five or six—is crucial for preserving the players' muscle memory.
Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, the president of Hockey India, declined to provide specific details regarding the arguments the team intends to present to the Sports Minister during Thursday's virtual call.
The Special Congress, which updated the HI constitution to formally recognize virtual meetings, also approved a new format for the national championships. These will now be split into separate competitions for academies, institutions, and affiliated state associations across sub-junior, junior, and senior categories for both genders, with a rule that players can only compete in one of these tournaments.
Additionally, the meeting established a rough schedule for the national teams leading up to the Tokyo Olympics next summer. The men's squad is slated for 10 Pro League games and the Asian Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, the women's team is planning 12 to 14 matches, including potential trips to Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, depending on when travel bans are lifted.