Shahnaz Sheikh Talks about hockey

Javed Akhtar | Arab News

PIA station manager in Jeddah, Shahnaz Shaikh makes a point. (Photo by Javed Akhtar) SHAHNAZ Shaikh is the newly appointed coach-manager of the Pakistan team for the World Cup Hockey Championships in Moenchengladbach, Germany from Sept. 6 to 17. The call for national duty came like a bolt from the blue to the PIA station manager in Jeddah. The SOS from the Pakistan Hockey Federation was desperate. Apparently other former Olympians had turned down the offer at such short notice. But not Shahnaz. The mercurial forward of the yesteryears was part of a deadly attack line that terrorized all opposition over a long period and won laurels for Pakistan in world arenas. Shahnaz has picked up the gauntlet and has taken charge of a disintegrating, demoralized team after a poor showing in the Champions Trophy in Spain. He has a short 21 days to turn the team around and make them into a winning combination. Shahnaz is confident that he will be able to do it. In a wide-ranging interview, Shahnaz speaks at length about the game. He finds the game today overtly defense-oriented. “If you make up your mind before the start of the game that you are only going to defend, then you cannot survive 70 minutes of play. If you are lucky on any given day, then you may be able to escape with a draw. Shahnaz compares the team formation with the formation of soldiers in a war. “Like in a state of war, there are three line formations. The front line is the attack line, followed by two lines of defense. The front line also offers the first line of defense. When the rival attacks gets past this line, it is not as fresh and strong when it faces the second line of defense. It is very important to have a strong front line. That is why I say, strong offense is the best form of defense,” Shahnaz says. Talking about the contrasting styles of Asian or subcontinental hockey and the European variety, Shahnaz says the different styles still exist. “The difference is that they have adopted the Asian style and we have taken to the European variety,” he says. Shahnaz looks into the history of the game and analyzes how the Asian style evolved. “Hockey came to the Indian Subcontinent from Europe in the 4-4-2 soccer format. This was based on the European environmental conditions and the thick blade of grass there. The essence of this formation was to have as much possession of the ball as possible. Concentrate on defense and score through counterattacks,” he says. Shahnaz looks at the transformation brought about by the Indians to suit their own situation. “Our elders saw that the European format did not suit us on three counts. The heat and humidity was too energy sapping, the blade of grass was thinner and the ball traveled much faster and the physique and physical conditioning of our players was too weak to withstand the rigors of the format. So they added one player to the attack line and came up with the 5-3-2 formation,” he explains. Shahnaz continues, “As against the European style of drill, diagonal and parallel hockey, our elders developed a system which relied on skill and aimed at moving in a straight line. Here the aim was to cover as much territory in as little time as possible.” The problem today is not with the system, Shahnaz feels, but with the players. “The Asian system needs very good basic skills. The players don’t want to work hard enough to improve their skills. The players don’t have dedication,” Shahnaz says. The reason for this according to Shahnaz is the absence of necessary environment. “In the past there was a culture of hockey. The game was played in schools, colleges and clubs. Unless you involve clubs, the game will not improve. There is also the need to introduce evening hockey. When I played, we used to practice seven days of the week, 365 days of the year. If you do that, your game is bound to improve. If you make a mistake today, tomorrow you will come and correct it. The senior players will help you in this,” Shahnaz says. He makes an appeal to revive regular evening games. “It may not be possible to do it in all cities. They should select 20-25 centers, acquire the services of former Olympians and pay them well. I can guarantee that in a couple of years you will have 2,000 players to choose from. Then you can set up five or six academies with the help of sponsors and soon you will start producing world beaters,” he adds. Shahnaz points out the lack of organized coaching in the subcontinent. “We have paid no attention to systematic coaching. All kinds of committees are formed but we have never bothered to set up a coaching committee. The job of such a committee should be to organize seminars and clinics all over the country to familiarize them with the latest coaching techniques. “The committee should also compile a coaching manual for easy reference of the coaches, players and anybody else who is interested. At the grassroots level, players learn something else and when they reach higher levels they are taught entirely different things. As a result, they get totally confused,” Shahnaz clarifies. Another problem faced by India and Pakistan is the lack of Astroturf grounds. “My thinking is that India and Pakistan should not worry about Astroturf. If we take the examples of Holland, Germany, Australia and Spain, they have almost 400 Astroturf grounds each. Even by the year 2050, we will not be able to match them. We should not worry if a certain facility is not available to us. We should try and make the best use of whatever is available,” he says. Shahnaz agrees that rule changes were meant to adversely affect the Asian style. “Rule changes should not have affected our game. Our system is so flexible that with proper thinking and vision we can use these changes to our advantage. The changes were brought in to make the game faster. Our game was already fast. What has happened over the years is that our players have lost the ability to adapt to the rule changes,” he says. In this context Shahnaz mentions the doing away of the off-side rule. “We had to draw with Spain in a match because there were 42 off-side violations by our team. In the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok, we were held by Thailand. They had an Indian coach and he stationed all his defenders at the center line,” he says. About the changing tactics, Shahnaz says, “In the old days, we used to attack through the wings to tear apart the defense. The tendency was to keep the ball on the right to move toward the right corner and similarly for the left corner. Now the practice is to keep the ball inside and as a result the players tend to move down the middle and are countered by a crowded defense,” Shahnaz says. Shahnaz also feels what the teams lack today are coordination and team work. “A player covering 10 meters on his own will not be as tired if he shares five meters of that distance with a teammate. Life will also be much easier if the areas are divided among players,” Shahnaz says. He feels there is not much advance in technique, only the terminology used has changed. “The new terminology is full press and half press in defense. We won the 1971 World Cup by using that method. The only difference is that in those days we said ‘make a wall’. In our days we said play first time. Now it is called one-two. Just the name has changed. In the past we used to interchange positions, now it is called switching. Present day ‘channeling’ is what we called ‘take him to the corner’,” Shahnaz adds. “When the Europeans did not succeed in weakening Asian hockey, they decided to send Mir Jafars and Mir Qasims (historic traitors) to weaken us. They got these coaches and taught them their ways and sent them back. They have spoilt our present crop of players. I want to ask them, ‘Did you follow the same system which you are teaching, at your own young days?’” Shahnaz says. About foreign coaches, Shahnaz feels there is a contradiction in basic philosophies. “They believe in keeping possession of ball and winning through counterattack. We believe in gaining maximum territory in minimum time. So how can a foreign coach succeed in India and Pakistan in the present system. The only way a foreign coach can succeed is to call an army of coaches from abroad and let them start coaching from the grassroots level. Then in 15 to 20 years you will see some results,” he says. Shahnaz continues, “On the other hand, they employed our coaches for short periods. They did this to learn the finer skills of the game. Another aspect of this is the fact that we are willing to pay through our noses to hire a foreign coach but only pay a pittance to our own coaches.” India and Pakistan will have to come back to their center of gravity, Shahnaz feels. “Bring advancements to your system but don’t stray from the center. Don’t give up your attacking hockey. The present situation is that our standard has gone down. Other teams have come up. To raise our own standard, we have to revive the infrastructure that has become nonexistent today,” he says. Shahnaz continues, “Till graduation I did not pay any fees. I knew that I would get all facilities including kit and equipment. Now there is no incentive for hockey players. Earlier, a good player could easily get a decent, well-paying job. Those days there was nationalism. Now there is only commercialism.” The decline of hockey popularity over the years is a sad phenomenon, Shahnaz feels. “We ruled the world in two games -- hockey and squash. Unfortunately we did not appreciate either. As a result, we are nowhere today in both games. Now hockey must give good results to win recognition. In the Champions Trophy in Lahore, a mere 8,000 came for the opening game. When Pakistan reached the final, 42,000 packed the stadium,” he says. Shahnaz thinks India and Pakistan must start a program of exchange of coaches. “The two neighbors must start an exchange of coaches to share knowledge and experiences. This will go a long way in improving our standard of the game. We can also involve other countries like Japan and South Korea in this so that there is an overall improvement in Asian hockey,” he concludes.