Players used quarantine time to learn about India's extraordinary Olympic history: Graham Reid

After returning to the Sports Authority of India's Bengaluru campus earlier this month, players used the two-week-long mandatory quarantine period "to learn about India's extraordinary Olympic history", said Graham Reid, Indian men's hockey team coach.

The players, most of whom often use video games and Netflix as a pastime, were tasked with an assignment to present their learnings to the group over a video conference so that they can learn from individual stories and implement these learnings as a team going forward in their quest for Olympic success.

"The players' job was to study a number of the Olympic stories and present to the group their individual learnings and what can we use as a team going forward. Going through quarantine together is something we will be able to utilize during our journey over the next 12 months," expressed Reid, as per a Hockey India release.

From Wednesday onwards, the core group began basic sports activities with a focus on aerobic base. The next few weeks will be more about planning and realigning the player's development over the next few months.

"We will be using these next few weeks to work on everyone's development plan and focus on skill development while we can improve their aerobic base," said Reid further adding that the action and decisions they make as a team will determine how they fare in Tokyo.

"I reminded the players that every action and decision we make will help us to either get closer to our Olympic goal or further away from it and told them of the importance of the next few months in this journey," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )