CHENNAI: Like any player starting his career, Sandeep Sangwan also dreamt of playing for India and winning medals for the country. But before that, the hockey midfielder wanted to help his state, Haryana, finish on the podium at the national championships. Starting in 1987 with the sub-junior team, Sandeep, who hails from Sonepat, tried to turn his dream into reality for almost two decades but to no avail.
In the meantime, he went on to play for Delhi, All India Universities and ONGC apart from Haryana and even won the Junior National Hockey Championship for Delhi in 1995. Incidentally, they defeated Haryana in the final to be crowned champions. Unfortunately, he never managed to win medals for Haryana during his playing days.
That unfulfilled dream must have stayed with him even when he switched to coaching in the mid-2000s. As luck would have it, he got yet another chance to live his dream, this time as a coach when he was handed the reins of the Haryana team in 2010. And he did the unthinkable in his maiden stint as a Haryana coach as the team comprising Sardar Singh and Sandeep Singh went on to lift the Senior National Championship title in 2011.
Since then, Sandeep (47) has won titles at the national tournaments with the latest coming at the 2023 National Games in Goa, probably making him the only hockey coach in the country to achieve the feat. The title is Haryana's first at the National Games.
The victorious Haryana men's hockey team. (Photo | Express)"Ever since I started coaching, the dream was to win national titles for Haryana and ONGC, which I couldn't as a player. It gives me immense pleasure that I managed to achieve it," Sangwan told this daily. Haryana senior men's team was considered underdogs and had achieved nothing to take note of before 2011. Sangwan's arrival not only saw them lifting the senior title but also qualifying for the 2015 National Games, where they finished with a bronze medal.
"We used to be a good team at junior level but the senior side was a pushover. But it changed once Sunil Malik came on board as an office-bearer of Hockey Haryana. He gave me the freedom to revamp the team and changes were visible as we started winning at the national level."
From no title till 2010, Haryana men went on to win the senior national championship twice (2011 and 2022) apart from a bronze and a gold medal in the junior national championships in 2015 and 2023 respectively. Sangwan also got the command of the junior women's team in 2019 for a brief period and they finished second in the national championship.
"Around 90 players from my teams went on to play for India and around 200 got government jobs in the last 13 years. I decided to end my career as a player early as I knew it would be difficult to target bigger goals with dual responsibility. It gives me immense satisfaction that the sacrifice has started paying dividends," said the FIH Level 3 coach.
He completed the NIS diploma in coaching in 2007 before clearing the FIH Academy Level 1 coaching course in 2011. Sangwan became the only second Indian after Harender Singh to achieve the FIH Academy Level 3 coaching certificate in 2019.
The recent success with Haryana meant he now wants to polish his skills further by attaining the Level 4 certificate soon. "These courses add more dimensions to your personality as a coach which in turn prove beneficial for the team. I hope I can complete the Level 4 course and keep contributing to Haryana's success," Sangwan signed off.
