Bengaluru, (Samajweekly) With the national hockey coaching camp drawing to an end on Saturday, Indian women’s team striker Lalremsiami feels the side has been able to achieve desirable targets in the last four months.
“This week, as we wrap up the national camp, I think most of us are in a mood to reflect back on the year that was meant to take us to new heights. Though the pandemic posed several challenges for us, we are looking at the positives that have made us believe in ourselves more than ever. The pandemic has certainly made us stronger mentally and we have become stronger and tight-knit as a group,” said Lalremsiami.
“We have achieved desirable targets in these last four months of the national coaching camp. The training was high in intensity especially in the last six weeks. Next year, we hope to play good tournaments that will help us prepare as best as possible for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” she added.
Lalremsiami, who has climbed up the ranks in the senior team after strong performances in major international events including the Asian Games in 2018 and the Olympic Qualifiers in 2019, also expressed that the team’s philanthropic efforts that helped feed over 1000 families during the Covid-19 induced lockdown will remain one of her favourite moments of the year.
“Only weeks into the lockdown when we realised the struggles of people across the country who were rendered jobless and struggled to feed themselves and their families, we decided to do something to help them. We had never taken up a cause like this before but the entire team was unanimous in our decision and the support we received from across the hockey fraternity was immense,” stated the young striker from Mizoram.
“Raising over 20 lakhs through an online challenge and subsequently being able to feed more than 1,000 families will remain a highlight for me this year,” she added.
