Chandigarh, December 25: Hockey India League (HIL) franchise Soorma Hockey Club's head coach Jeroen Baart believes that having a veteran like Sardar Singh as a mentor will bring a lot of experience for younger players, and it will be beneficial for the team to have input from a former Indian hockey great. Hockey India League 2024–25 Countdown Begins, Tickets for Matches Free for Fans.

Sardar, who has 314 caps to his name, has joined the Soorma Hockey men’s coaching setup. In the first edition of HIL in 2013, was named Player of the Tournament with Delhi Waveriders. He played all editions of the league till 2017 and has coached the Indian Sub Junior and Hockey5s Teams post-retirement.

"Sardar is a very nice person, and he's a big talent who can bring so much experience for the players, sharing his knowledge, especially with the younger ones. But just all over the spot with myself as well, having the input from a person that has a very massive, big experience way of play is just nice.

"Sardar has been in transition, coming from a player and going into a coaching and mentoring role. And it's nice to have somebody in the staff that also has a very nice view from that perspective. And I think for the Indian boys, as well as international players, it's fantastic to have someone around who can share his experience at that level as well," Baart told IANS.

Reflecting on the team's preparation for the tournament, the head coach said he has been putting in a lot of effort to establish strong connections, define a clear style of play, and identify effective triggers for offensive strategies.

"It was nice for me to be here early, to spend some time just with the core Indian group. Of course, for me, there were a lot of new faces. And it was nice for me to spend some more individual time as well with these guys to get to know them a bit better. And I hope also, on the other side, they get to know me better. I hope also they enjoy that. Latest Hockey Rankings: Indian Men’s Hockey Team End 2024 in Fifth Place; Women’s Team Placed Ninth.

"And we've just been working really hard on connecting, on getting a very clear way of play and finding good trigger points to play offensive. Maybe a bit of Indian offensive hockey, but also finding good structure and make sure we can be controlling enough as well to find a good balance in the way of play," said Baart.

Sharing about the composition of the team, the head coach expressed delight in the well-rounded and dynamic mix in the team that comprises a balance between the fiery passion of an Argentinian player, the tactical control of a Belgian, the offensive flair of a Dutch player, and the physical prowess of an Australian, combined with the experience of Indian players like Harmanpreet, Vivek Sagar, Gurjant Singh, and others.

"We're very good at finding a good, balanced team. I think we've got a lot of compliments as well from all around that we have a very well-balanced squad with good juniors, good experienced Indian players, and a very nice, balanced group of international players as well, and I'm very proud of that. Now it's important that we get the puzzle right for when we start the tournament," he said.

"And I really believe that balance between the fire of an Argentinian player, the controlling of a Belgian player, the offensive touch from a Dutch player, the quality in the physical play of the Aussie player, combined with the experience of Hermanpreet, Vivek, Gurjant, and others, finds it a very good mix of players," Baart concluded.

Hockey India League, scheduled to unfold from December 28 to February 1, 2025. Soorma Hockey Club will begin their inaugural campaign on December 29, against Tamil Nadu Dragons in Rourkela. Year Ender 2024: A Look at Indian Hockey This Year; Consecutive Olympic Medals, PR Sreejesh Retirement, HIL Make Headlines.

Soorma Hockey Club squad:

Goalkeepers: Vincent Vanasch, Mohith H S, Jashandeep Singh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Jeremy Hayward, Gurinder Singh, Nicolas Della Torre, Sukhvinder, Ashu Maurya, Pradip Mandal

Midfielders: Vivek Sagar Prasad, Victor Wegnez, Jonas De Geus, Harjeet Singh, Nicolas Poncelet, Prabhjot Singh, Ankush, Sunit Lakra

Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Dayaan Cassiem, Boris Burkhardt, Maninder Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Harish Somappa Mutagar

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 25, 2024 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).