‘If we’re talking about 2036 Olympics, now’s the time’: Hockey legend PR Sreejesh identifies hole in expertise identification | Hockey Information – The Instances of India

NEW DELHI: Double Olympic medallist PR Sreejesh emphasised the importance of grassroots funding and expertise scouting to reinforce India’s future in sports activities.
Sreejesh, who retired after contributing to India’s consecutive Olympic bronze medal on the Paris Video games, highlighted the significance of publicity and psychological preparation for athletes aiming for fulfillment on the Olympics.
“Publicity is the important thing. Stepping into the world stage and acting from there’s the dream,” Sreejesh mentioned. “What makes the Olympics distinctive is the psychological stress. Making ready athletes to be outfitted to carry out at that stage is most necessary.”
He identified the shift in perspective for younger athletes, who now have tangible examples of Indian achievements on the worldwide stage, boosting their confidence of their potential for fulfillment.
“Once we began enjoying, we all the time heard in regards to the historical past of the game. Now, we will realistically present younger youngsters that we will obtain on the world stage. Once I work with U21 gamers at Hockey India, I need them to imagine that they can also obtain success,” he added.
Sreejesh recognized a niche in expertise identification on the grassroots stage, advocating for elevated funding in younger expertise, significantly these between the ages of 12-14, to organize for future Olympic Video games, together with the 2036 Olympics.
“Now we have room to enhance in expertise identification. On the nursery stage, at grassroots, there’s quite a bit to work on. That is the place the funding must go in,” he mentioned. “If we’re talking in regards to the 2036 Olympics, now’s when we have to faucet into the expertise between the age teams of 12-14 years.”
He additionally harassed the necessity for a broader sports activities tradition in India, past simply successful medals, to advertise total well being and well-being.
“We have to introduce sports activities tradition into our system. That is necessary, not simply to win medals however for total well being and well-being. The youthful era could be very targeted on medals, which is nice, however we additionally must construct a basis that sustains their journey in sports activities,” he remarked.