Junior hockey WC is a stepping stone to future success for youngsters, says coach Sreejesh

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Indian men's junior hockey team chief coach PR Sreejesh on Friday advised his wards to consider the upcoming World Cup as a stepping stone in their careers, keeping their sights firmly set on the 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

The veteran goalkeeper, who represented India in four Olympics winning two back-to-back bronze medals in the Tokyo and Paris Games, said handling pressure and gaining experience will be the most important learnings for the youngsters from the Junior World Cup.

"For the juniors this is one of the greatest milestone of their career because from here the journey starts for senior level. One thing I always tell these guys is dream about 2028 or 2032 because you are not meant to be juniors forever.

"They have a long vision about their future, their career but this is one of the best stepping stones for them from where they can start their career," Sreejesh said in a virtual media interaction after India announced an 18-member team under the leadership of dragflicker Rohit for the marque event.

"I always tell them dream big. There are a lot of players in the senior team who never played a Junior World Cup. This is a place where you gain experience because this is a World Cup. It will give them experience, teach pressure management, how to overcome challenges. This is a great platform for them," he added.

The FIH Junior Men's World Cup will be co-hosted by Chennai and Madurai from November 28 till December 10.

The 37-year-old legendary goalkeeper has seen it all during his illustrious career, be it success, failure, pressure or disappointments. As a coach, he is trying to help the youngsters understand how to cope up with these things.

"And second thing we are training them to win, to match expectations. We are training hard to win the tournament so that they get more confidence. Junior World Cup is just the start. What is important is what they are learning from this tournament," Sreejesh said.

India will be missing striker Araijeet Singh Hundal, who had featured in the last Junior World Cup and also played for the senior side, due to a shoulder injury.

"Definitely we will miss him but the player who replaced him is good enough and I hope they (team) will not give any opportunity to realise I am missing Hundal.

"During a training session Hundal just fell off and dislocated his shoulder. But it is a great chance for a player who replaced him to capitalise," Sreejesh said.

India are placed in a relatively easy Pool B along side Chile, Switzerland and Oman, who replaced Pakistan after they withdrew from the tournament citing security reasons.

"Junior World Cup starts from the quarterfinals and this time it is going to be a bit tricky because of six pools. What is important is that we just need to give our best. We can't take any match easily, every match we need to score as many goals as possible and not to concede any goals," Sreejesh said. PTI SSC SSC APA APA