Hockey India League provides ideal testing ground for upcoming domestic coaches
The Hockey India League (HIL) is not just giving an excellent platform to young Indian players but it is also providing opportunities to the home-grown coaches.
Several coaches, including former internationals Vikram Pillay and Vickram Kanth and N. Muthukumar and M. Gunasekar, have been working with different teams in the ongoing HIL to gain first hand knowledge of how teams, involving Indian and foreign players and support staff, are run. Ranchi Royals’ Harendra Singh is the only top-level Indian coach working in the HIL.
For Pillay, who is the head coach of the HIL GC, this was an ideal setting to test his coaching skills in top level hockey. “As a player, participating in the HIL was different. Now after coaching Maharashtra’s developmental side, this is a good experience for me. You learn from a mix of cultures and [there is an] exchange of knowledge. Indian coaches are doing well. It’s a good platform for them,” said Pillay.
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Assisting Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons’ head coach Tim White is Kanth’s first experience of working with a big team. “You understand players in match situations better and react. From Tim, I learnt how to prepare players of different backgrounds within a short period. I like how caring he is towards domestic players. I act as a bridge to minimise the language barrier.
“Picking brains of foreign coaches is important because their structure is similar to that of the international level, otherwise hockey remains the same,” said Kanth, an International Hockey Federation (FIH) educator.
Hockey India treasurer Shekar Manoharan stressed the need to upgrade and update Indian coaches. “We learn from the foreign coaches (so that) in the future, we do not depend on them,” said Manoharan, also the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu president.
He wants coaches from his state working in the HIL to spread the knowledge among grassroots level trainers in Tamil Nadu.
Manoharan, who conducts one of the biggest school hockey leagues (Tamil Nadu School Hockey League) and conducts clinics for basics level coaches and PET teachers, hopes the transfer of knowledge from the HIL will work well in boosting Indian hockey.
Published on Jan 21, 2026