Nobbs to press for training centre status for Bangalore

Coach to submit proposal to SAI, Sports Ministry

Chief coach Michael Nobbs is going a step forward, planning to submit a proposal to Hockey India, Sports Authority of India and the Sports Ministry on the same lines.

“Just like the hockey centre at the Australian Institute of Sports in Perth, we would like to have the Indian institute of hockey in Bangalore, where the men’s, women’s, the development and junior teams can train,” Nobbs said on Wednesday. “We would also want such a centre to have the best of equipment as we don’t have to lug around ball machines, radar guns and the goalkeeping equipment that we use."

“We can also use the facilities here to train coaches. This will be the centre where information about the game is disseminated. We can send out videos to different areas in the country about various skills being practiced. The coaches, in turn, go back and teach others what they learnt here. I will be submitting a proposal to HI, SAI and Sports Ministry.”

Hailing the City’s weather as perfectly conducive to training all through the year, Nobbs said even international teams could be invited to stage their training sessions. “They can use the facility for practice games and test matches. The weather here is excellent throughout the year and so other teams will not have a problem coming to Bangalore.

“The venue is perfect. We just need to change the turf, add a couple of change rooms, a media tower to videograph games and a small patch of artificial turf for shooting practice.

The rest of it -- the dope testing and medical facilities, the sports science back-up -- is excellent. We can also seek exercise physiologist David John’s help in fine-tuning a few of these aspects.”