Paris Olympics: Indian hockey team’s ‘monumental effort’ to give PR Sreejesh a fitting send-off

Paddy Upton was India’s mental conditioning coach when the men’s cricket team won the historic ODI World Cup in 2011. And, 13 years later, as India’s men’s hockey team clinched a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and made it to the record books, Upton had a key role to play as the mental coach of the team.

Having worked with the hockey team for nearly a year now, Upton worked closely with head coach Craig Fulton to make sure that the team chased its dreams of a podium finish in Paris.

Even though it missed out on an assured silver, a buoyant Indian team clinched a thriller against Spain on Thursday to claim two bronze medals in two consecutive Games and gave a fitting tribute to goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, who walked into retirement.

As Upton, too, basked in the glory along with the team, it also brought back memories of the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium, where the Indian cricket team wanted to win the title for its legend Sachin Tendulkar.

In an exclusive chat with  Sportstar from Paris, Upton walked down the memory lane and also revealed how the team prepared for the event.

How do you sum up the Indian hockey team’s campaign in the Paris Olympics?

The journey was a very intentional and deliberate one leading towards this particular Olympic campaign. There was the Pro League, a tour to South Africa with a real focus on the Olympics. There was a tour to Australia, in which many people were really dejected because of the fact that we lost five games in a row.

But our whole mission in Australia was not to play our main moves, not to show our hands, but it was to try and understand the Australian team as much as possible. So, even though we lost five games in a row, we were very happy with what we understood against Australia and we knew we didn’t show them things that they would (have expected). And, we knew that we would surprise them with a few things at the Olympics.

It was an amazing campaign. We spent three days in Switzerland doing some really fascinating and very different mental preparation for the team. We arrived in Paris ready, prepared with skill, with fitness, with a mindset, with the strategies to win gold. There were probably six teams in the world that were really competitive and could have had a decent shot at it.

It’s always nice to win a medal at the Olympics. But if we were to really be honest with ourselves, we were good enough, we were fit enough, we were prepared to do better. But the nature of the game of hockey is such that one goal here or there, and one bit of luck here or there can make the difference between winning and losing.

So, a medal is great. A different colour would have been even better.

In the semifinal, the Indian team lost to Germany in the closing minutes and over the next couple of days, how challenging was it to motivate the players and make sure that they gave their all in the bronze match? What were the mental aspects that you worked on during this phase?

Let’s just take a step back or two. We couldn’t beat Australia in the Olympics in 50 (52) years. They recently beat us 5-0. So to get up and prepare to beat a team like Australia, who have only ever beaten us at the Olympics, was a massive success.

Then we played against Great Britain in the quarterfinals. This is a team that India had not beaten for four years. We were 17 minutes into the game with 43 minutes to play, we got a red card. And now we had to beat a team we haven’t beaten for four years. But with only ten men. It was a monumental effort to win the quarterfinal game and progress to the semifinal. It was one of the best sporting events I’ve ever been part of. It was the most proud I’ve ever been of a team that stood up and fought like warriors, like Trojans. They never gave up. You can’t imagine the adversity of having to beat a team you haven’t beaten for four years now with only ten men. We did it and that gave us so much confidence in ourselves.

After that game, it was really about getting us mentally, emotionally back, pressing the reset button within 48 hours to get ready for the semifinal. In the semifinal, we created our chances, we created our opportunities. We weren’t beaten by a better team, but on the day, we didn’t convert, whereas the Germans did. They are a team that if you make any mistakes (they will get over you). They are such a disciplined, well-drilled team that it was unfortunate.

To play the third and fourth playoff game, that’s incredibly difficult because winning bronze is significant. And coming fourth, you might as well come 12th. It’s just a non-event. So, the team had massive pride, massive commitment in our individual and our team performance. We knew we wanted to give (PR) Sreejesh a really big send-off. So there was a lot to play for.

Arriving at the game, and even while the game was really tight, I never once doubted the players’ commitment and that we had a much bigger purpose to play for the fans back in India, for the families and the amount of sacrifice the players, the support staff made to be away from their families.

We were playing for them and of course, for Sreejesh, who was playing his last game. The players absolutely love him. He is one of the finest team-man I’ve ever come across in any sport that I’ve been involved in the last 25 years. He’s not just a great goalkeeper, but he’s an energiser. He’s a source of enthusiasm, entertainment, motivation, experience, wisdom and just a damn good all-round guy.

Back in 2011, the Indian cricket team wanted to win the ODI World Cup for Tendulkar, and this time around, the hockey team wanted to give a fitting farewell to Sreejesh. Having been in the dressing room on both occasions, did it bring back memories?

There were obviously similarities. I’m a firm believer – not just a believer, I know – that if anyone who’s playing for a worthy cause greater than themselves, they are able to find a well of motivation, inspiration, resilience, determination, grit that is beyond if you were just doing something for your own self, for money, for a medal, for fame, for name. It’s very much easier to give up on yourself than it is to give up on something that is greater than yourself.

So, for the players who played for Sachin, I knew that they were never going to give up no matter how tough the going got. And the same with Sreejesh, we knew if the going gets tough, it doesn’t matter. It’s not about you. It’s not about what you’re feeling. We are doing this for our families, fans and for everyone back home in India and we are doing it for the goalkeeper that we love so much.

It was always going to give us that extra bit of determination and fight that we often need towards the fourth quarter when you are tired. It was hot and we played a mid-day game. We were 2-1 ahead and then, we conceded those two short corners within the last minute or two. But we knew those runners, who were running the short corner down, were going to put their body on the line to protect the ball and to cover that space between the ball and the goal.

They were prepared for it. Someone like Amit (Rohidas) on the day he ran down so many corners, he was prepared like a true warrior to put his body on the line. He didn’t worry about injury, rather he was just worried about stopping the ball from getting into the goal. And even if it did, we trusted Sree that he was going to do his job and stop it, which he did.

You spoke about the preparation. But if you could elaborate on how the team handled the challenges once the event got underway. Amit Rohidas missed out on an important game, and what were the areas that the coaching staff worked on to ensure the team did not lose the plot?

So, it really was a team effort from the players and all the support staff. Essentially, my role was to take all the mental themes and processes that we’ve worked on in the last year and prepare the players to be able to stay focused in the key moments of play when the pressure is highest.

It was to understand if the focus goes off because players are forcing and trying too hard or is it because they’re backing off and being a bit risk averse? We’re constantly getting the players to measure and assess where their mind was during each and every game.

So, before a game, it was about reminders and preparing players’ minds for the game. And after every game, it was about debriefing and analysing what we learned from our mental space. After every game, we would do some form of mental, emotional, physical, relaxation with meditation, yoga sessions.

So, it was about preparing before the game and after the game, extracting the learnings, pressing the reset button and going again.

What’s next for you?

What’s next? I have no idea. I want to get home, spend some time with my daughter, press my own reset buttons, like I’ve been helping players press their reset buttons after each game.

And whatever is next, we will see. We will roll with it. But it will be exciting, and I’m quite sure it’ll be. It’s been 17 years now with this wonderful relationship with India. And I don’t see it ending any time soon (smiles).