Harbail Singh
SITH (talk) 20:07, 24 March 2019 (UTC)
Sardar Harbail Singh, the legendary Indian hockey coach[1], was born on March 9, 1909, in Khushab, Sargodha (now Pakistan). In 1929, he moved to Amritsar with his father’s family. He earned a BA from Khalsa College in Amritsar. While he was studying at Amritsar Khalsa College, he was captain of the hockey team and the tennis team. He was heavily involved in track and field and liked watching wrestling and boxing. He was an all-around sportsman. He received a post graduate degree from Madras in Physical Education. As a hockey player, he was a member of the all-India Hockey Team in 1935-36, which traveled to Australia and New Zealand. He was the only Sikh player. He was also labeled as the brainiest player on the team. On this trip, he played side by side with Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, and IS Dara. He could play any position and be noticed. He was selected as one of the most valuable players. He also played at national levels.
Coaching career
He coached Khalsa College Amritsar from 1936 for the next 13 years. His team won every India intercollegiate tournament while he was Director of Physical Education. He coached at the invitation of the Maharajah of FaridkotCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content from 1947-1948 at Brjiendra College Faridkot. The College won the all-India Collegiate tournament while he was their Director of Physical Education. He coached at the invitation of the Maharaja of Kapurthala Randhir College Kapurthala, and his team once again won the all-India collegiate Tournament in 1949. He coached the Mahendra College Patiala Punjab team from 1952-1956, and the team won all the India intercollegiate tournaments every year. In 1957, he coached at the Government College Ludhiana. That was the only time that the Ludhiana Hockey Team won India's intercollegiate tournament. In 1957, he was also appointed the Assistant Director of public education, head of National Cadets Corps, Deputy Director of Physical Education, for the state of Punjab. Every team he coached since 1936 never lost and won the highest medal of the tournament, but the crowning achievement of his coaching career was as the coach of the Olympic Indian Hockey team. He coached and won gold medals in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. There was not a single country that could score a goal against his Gold-winning team during the 1956 Olympics. A feat happened only one other time in Olympic hockey history in 1928.
In other coaching experiences, he coached the 1948 Olympic squad but was not selected as coach. Out of twenty players on the 1948 Olympic team, he had trained five, including Legendary Sardar Balbir Singh Senior. Other players include RS Gentle, Trilochen Singh, Commander Nandy Singh, and K.D. Singh (Babu). Again, in 1960, he coached the Indian team but was not selected as a coach due to his disagreement over the selection of the players. That was the first time an Indian Hockey Team had lost in the finals game against Pakistan.
After the 1952 Olympics, he was offered a job by Germany as a head coach of the German team. The job came with a free house, car, and a handsome salary, but he refused it.[2][2] His rationale was that if he coached the German team, then the German team would beat India. He would not train any team that would play against India. Several European and Australian teams did hire Indian Players to coach their teams and had great success. As a coach, he spent most of his time looking to spot promising players at the school level. He used to say, “give me a 15-16-year old and I can train them to defeat any team in the world.” He was a very hard taskmaster. He demanded the best from his players and, in return, gave them Gold Medals. He believed in rigorous physical training for his players and that physical fitness was a key to winning. He trained his team to play at least 210 minutes in case games went into overtime. Harbail or “Sardar Ji,” as he was called, did have a “softer” side. At the spur of the moment, he used to bring the whole team home to eat, without any warning to his wife. He also found jobs for over 1000 hockey players after they graduated—in the railways, police, military, and other places. He was a staunch Sikh and believed in the power of prayer. Nevertheless, he respected everyone’s religion. He was also an international umpire. He umpired for the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympics.
Death
Sardar Ji lost his life in an air crash near Moscow while returning from the 1960 Olympics in Rome. It was a great tragedy for his family. All of his children were minors from 2-17 years of age. Harbail was only 51 years old. His wife was 35. It was also a big loss to Indian Hockey. He played an important role in the hockey history of India and was instrumental in making hockey a national sport. His era of hockey, 1928-1956, is considered to be the Golden Era of Hockey. During this period, India won five Olympic gold medals. Many thought of him as the Vince Lombardi of Indian hockey. There has not been a single coach who achieved what Sardar Ji achieved for Indian hockey.
Filmography
In November 2018, a short film[3] named Sardar Ji [4] premiered at Sikhlens Film Festival[5] in California. His son, Sean Singh, a lawyer based in Santa Ana, California, was key in bringing the film to life along with filmmakers Shamola Kharkar, Hansjeet Duggal & Aditya Akash. Bicky Singh & Sean Singh being the Executive Producers.
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:0 - ↑ "Sardar Ji-The Coach who never lost a game".
- ↑ "Sardar Ji". p. https://www.facebook.com/Sikhlens/photos/a.261110617262467/2559654497408056/?type=1&theater.
- ↑ "Sardar Ji".
Sardar Harbail Singh
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