field-hockey-players

"I find it’s the small details that really help and I spend so much time in the gym to prevent injury. It’s also to maintain my strength and I also watch my nutrition. If you are going to stay at this level, then you have to keep up with the youngsters and the energy they have."

"At the Olympics, every team is so on form because this is what they have been planning for, but anything can happen. We’ve focused on what we can control, like working on our structure"

"With my previous experience at the Olympics, I know what to expect. It’s going to be a packed stadium and you can hardly hear each other, it could be distracting. So we have to focus on that more in our preparation and I will help the others in the team who don’t know what it’s going to be like. We just need to stay calm and shut out the noise, and at least we know what’s coming"

"It’s about being the best you can be physically and mentally. Having the right mindset and work ethic definitely helps me keep playing. A lot of players get injured when they are past 30 and that’s when their career ended."

"I pride myself on my fitness and keep my body as healthy as I can"

"So I’m just super-happy he’s coaching us, we’re lucky to have him. That’s what you need if you’re playing in the Olympics – the best. We don’t have the resources and sponsors that push other teams like the top four, but Giles is so passionate and he gives us a sense of calm and belief"

"I had to give myself the opportunity again, otherwise I knew I would regret it once I’ve retired. So I’m really happy to be in Paris!"

"I’ve had a couple of setbacks in my career since the 2012 Olympics and I just really wanted to go there again, because it is the pinnacle of hockey and was always my dream"

"I have lived my childhood dream and given everything I could to the badge. Every match, every moment, and every experience has been a privilege that I will cherish forever."

"I hoped the Challenge would help me to rejuvenate my writing habits by making me think outside the box, which it definitely did."

"Don't forget to get up every once and a while and do some stretching and exercises. Don't let your body atrophy in front of the computer."

"I love the concept of writers being presented with a blind challenge rather than simply submitting previously-completed work for judging. It puts us all on an even playing field, so anything goes. And I like competing against writers of all walks of life and with all levels of experience."

"There was the one life-changing teacher in high school and then the-rock-and-the-foundation writing teacher I had in college. Both pushed me to explore the limits of my creativity and were very open minded to my wild imagination."

"The deadline is what makes it fun. If I'd had more time to write the script, it would have surely lost some of its organic grossness. I would have tweaked that out in the interest of not making my readers sick."

"Remember – if you're not healthy, you won't feel good enough to write! But after you've had your vitamins and have done your yoga, write as much as you can as often as you can, even if you spend a lot of time staring at a blank page. If you just hang in there, you will succeed!"

"We were constantly, analysing and thinking, maybe overthinking. But you learn to control what you can control. The run-up to the Olympics is not nice. You thrive under pressure, that’s what you do, but there nothing is in your control."

"Many athletes struggle with the transition. It was a hard decision but I know it’s time to move on"

"It’s important to have an identity without sports"

"The ultimate goal was competing in the Olympic Games and that was a tough one"

"Some of us play sport as a living, and we’re really privileged to do so. But for the majority of people across the world, sport is a vehicle for keeping healthy and active."

"By accepting that there are barriers to women’s participation in particular, we are accepting that there isn’t a level playing field. That’s not a sustainable position to be in."

"Under participation in women’s sport is a global concern. There are plenty of factors that contribute to the problem – a lack of facilities, a lack of real and genuine opportunities, and a perception of being less valued than our male counterparts."

"As an athlete myself, we went through loads of psychological training and exercises, When you get to the very top level, the difference does come down to what goes on between your ears - technically, tactically - it’s very, very close and the margin for error is tiny"

"I’m working with the team individually to help them to understand themselves better, how to get to their performance mindset and create consistency within their game, as well working with the full squad and developing a whole, solid team culture that people want to be a part of, so they are also getting the best out of themselves and each other."

"It is incredibly important that people can be themselves, whatever it is and the more that people are able to welcome that and encourage and celebrate our difference the greater our team’s success will be. It goes hand in hand, if someone feels comfortable and is able to be themselves, the more successful that team will be."

"The first thing as an Olympic athlete if you get selected to go to Paris, as soon as you are selected, not as a reserve, in the starting team, everything else goes out the window. Then you can breathe and focus on the job."

"In 1933, the Jhansi Heroes decided to participate in the Beighton Cup hockey tournament. My life’s ambition was to win the Beighton Cup, as I had always regarded this competition as the blue riband of Indian hockey. In my opinion it is perhaps the best organized hokey event in the country. Calcutta is indeed lucky that it has at least three of four first class hockey grounds on the maidan, and this is a great advantage to run a tournament on schedule instituted since 1895, this tournament had a non-stop run. World War|World Wars I and II did not affect the tournament. Threats of Japanese bombs and actual bombings in Calcutta while the hockey season was on also did not prevent from the tournament from being held. That being said, it is sad to think that the tournament had to yield to the communal frenzy, which gripped the nation in 1946-47."

"According to widespread reports, German dictator Adolf Hitler offered Dhyan Chand German citizenship and a position in the German Military, after an impressive showing at the Berlin Olympics. The offer was declined by the Indian magician."

"The Olympic complex now has a magic show too."

"It looks like he has some invisible magnet stuck to his hockey stick so that the ball does not leave it at all.'"

"He treated everybody as pieces on a board meant for his use. He'd know from his own movement how the defense was forming, and where the gaps were. In other words, he was the only imponderable, Everybody else (opposition included) fell in predictable patterns around him."

"His real talent lay above his shoulders. His was easily the hockey brain of the century. He could see a field the way a chess player sees the board. He knew where his teammates were, and more importantly where his opponents were - without looking. It was almost psychic."

"India’s Triumph, Science Scores Over Force, and Dhyan Chand in Form”"

"[Dhyan Chand] was humble. He had only one pair of trousers. I took him to Austin Road on Regent Street . We went downstairs. Trousers galore were shown. Can I take them upstairs and see them in the sun? That finished me. I told Shaukat the story, what else do you expect of a Lance Nayak, he laughed"

"You and your boys have done wonderfully to foster the game of hockey in our country I hope that you will return to India with good impressions and with the same feeling of friendship to the German hockey players as we feel towards you…Tell them how much we all admired the sill and performance of the prefect hockey they have shown us."

"He scores goals like runs in cricket."

"I was bypassed in 1932 possibly because of my academic handicaps and so called social position in life. I was still an ordinary soldier holding a minor rank."

"My experience thus far had been to win matches and not lose them. I remember that in 1932, after our return from the Olympic tour, we beat Delhi by 12 goals to nil. I never recognised Delhi as a big hockey playing center, but on this day they were right on top of us and completely outplayed us. The news of this defeat created adverse opinions about us, and while touring other centers before we finally sailed from Mumbai. This particular defeat kept worrying me. For the first time I was captaining the Olympic team; will India lose the title under my charge?"

"Nowadays I hear of the princely comforts provided for national teams traveling overseas, and fuss players raise if they happen to miss even a cup of tea! When we used to travel the name of our country and the game were the only two things that mattered."

"The cottage had twenty beds, a telephone and a refrigerator. Everything was kept spick and span, and every minute details of our comforts had been attended to. Two stewards were there to look after us. One was Otto, an old seasoned-sailor who had visited India several times and spoke English well. The other was named Schimdt, and he spoke English haltingly."

"It was a great day for me when my Commanding Officer called me and said ‘Boy, you are to go to New Zealand’ I was dumbfounded, and did not know what to reply. All I did was to click my heels snappily and, give as smart salute as I possibly could, and beat a hasty retreat. Once out of sight of the officer, I ran like a hare to reach my barracks and communicated the good news to my fellow soldiers. And what a reception they gave me! I lost no time in getting prepared for the trip. I was not a rich man, my earnings as a sepoy being only a few rupees a month. My parents were not rich either....I clothed myself as inexpensively as possible, and my personal outfit was my military kit... As soldiers belonging to the Other Ranks (read lower ranks), it was a great experience for us. Prior to this tour we could never conceive of being feted and entertained at private houses and public functions in such a glorious and enjoyable manner. We were made heroes, and on my part, if I may put it quite modestly, I proved myself a great success and left behind a great impression."