In less than 24 hours of the conclusion of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup for Men 2023, Chief Coach of Indian hockey team, Graham Reid, has put in his papers. Quick to respond, Hockey India has accepted his resignation and thanked him for his services to the game in the country.
Chief Coach Graham Reid met senior officials of Hockey India, including President, Olympian Dr Dilip Tirkey and submitted his resignation.
What reasons or explanations Graham Reid gave in his resignation letter are not known but immediate provocation for him to quit probably was failure of the Indian team to make the last eight round on the home soil. It is for the first time that India did not even play in the quarter finals of a World Cup being held on its soil.
The President, Hockey India along with Secretary General Bholanath Singh met players and the support staff of the team to understand and analyse its performance and strategy for the way ahead.
In the immediate future, India has to travel for its FIH Pro League games that were put on hold in November last year due to the FIH Odisha Hockey World Cup for men.
The Analytical Coach Greg Clark and Scientific Advisor Mitchell David Pemberton also tendered their resignation on Monday morning. All three will be serving their notice period over the next month.
Reid and his team of support staff have been part of the Indian Team’s historic Bronze Medal feat at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Silver Commonwealth Games medal in 2022, as well as securing third place in the FIH Hockey Pro League season in 2021/22. Among Reid’s successful outing as Chief Coach with the team includes the FIH Series Final title victory in 2019, subsequently the team broke no sweat in making the qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 when it won the Qualifiers in Bhubaneswar back in 2019.
Talking about his stint with the Indian side since 2019, Reid said, “It is now time for me to step aside and handover the reigns to the next management. It has been an honour and privilege to work with the team and Hockey India and I have enjoyed every moment of this epic journey. I wish the team all the very best.”
Having accepted Reid’s resignation along with Greg and Mitchell’s, Hockey India President Dr Dilip Tirkey said, “India will always have gratitude towards Graham Reid and his team of support staff who have brought good results to the country, particularly the Olympic Games. As all journeys move to different phases, it is now time for us to move on towards a new approach for our team.”
Prabhjot Singh