Team bonding key to success, says coach Santiago Nieva as Indian boxers prepare for Asian Championships
Driven by the philosophy that team bonding is beneficial in an individual sport like boxing, coach Santiago Nieva has engaged the Indian boxers in team-building activities during their preparations for the upcoming Asian championships in Mongolia.
As part of their preparations, the boxers participated in a photo contest during their camp at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala. On Tuesday, the squad also took time out to visit the iconic statue of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, during a free day in Ulaanbaatar.
“I have always tried to create a positive environment. We want boxers to have long careers and enjoy their time in the national team. In Patiala, we organised a team-building day during the pandemic, and it was quite successful,” Santiago said in response to a query from Sportstar on Wednesday.
Drawing from his previous experience, he added, “During my stint in Australia, we organised a couple of such activities, including a photo contest, and the athletes really enjoyed it. I thought it would be a good idea to implement something similar in Patiala. Team support is just as important in individual sports as it is in team sports. There are studies that support this.”
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Recalling the photo contest in Patiala, Santiago said the creativity of the boxers exceeded expectations. “Initially, it was difficult to gauge how much effort they would put in or how creative they would get. But very quickly, we started seeing different outfits and some really impressive costumes. They even travelled outside the NIS to capture unique photos.
“They began experimenting with AI-generated images, which forced us to introduce rules disallowing such entries. Otherwise, they came up with some really wild ideas. The most extreme involved using paint on their bodies and faces to recreate superheroes. It was all in good fun.”
Santiago believes such activities, alongside regular training in Ulaanbaatar, help athletes collaborate, think strategically and challenge each other, ultimately enhancing overall performance.
“Now the challenge is that we’ve set the bar quite high. But we still have a few surprises in store for them,” he added.
Published on Mar 25, 2026