Harendra Singh appointed coach of USA. Indian hockey would miss him

"We are thrilled to have Harry join USA Field Hockey and lead our Men's program," stated Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey's Executive Director. "The U.S. Men's National Team showed great progress prior to the COVID-19 shutdown and now with a coach of the caliber and experience of Harry at the helm we are excited for the future of the USMNT," stated the team in their statement.

Singh holds three decades of experience as an athlete and coach. He was last been appointed as the chief coach of the senior India Men's National Team from 2017-18.

Harendra was the first Indian to be named a full-time coach of the men's team since the team failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. His obession with the sports drove players to push their limits and it is his obsession that paid dividends for India when they won the 2016 Junior World Cup. This opened his doors to take the charge of the senior team.

His first assignment with the men's team was the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy, an annual event that features the top six squads across Asia, where he led India to gold in Muscat, Oman. More recently, Singh led India to a fifth-place finish at the 2018 Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup as national hosts in Bhubaneswar. In 2018, India beat every top 10 nation, barring Australia and Netherlands, at least once. Under Harendra, they finished with a silver after losing to Australia on penalties at the Champions Trophy, a gold medal at the Asian Champions Trophy and a bronze at the Asian Games. The latter performance was believed to have not gone down well with the federation and he was shown the exit doors soon after the World Cup.

But Harendra's impact on the team was quite helpful, which probably sowed the seeds of success India is riding on today. In addition to his experience on the men's side of the game, Singh also served as the head coach of India's Women's National Team from 2017-18. During this time he managed the team to a gold medal in the 2017 Women's Hockey Asia Cup.

He holds an FIH Level 4 High Performance certification and to date has helped produce more than 20 Olympians for India across his career. Many of these athletes have also gone on to receive some of the highest awards given by government entities in India, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel-Ratna, Padma Shri and Arujuna Awards. For his own service and dedication to the game, Singh has bestowed the Dronacharya Award in 2012, the highest award in India for outstanding coaches in sports and games.

After almost three years, Harendra will be serving international duty and Indian hockey lovers would be following him and how his antics could level up USA men's hockey team.