Former Indian Hockey team goalkeeper and captain PR Sreejesh talks about retirement, being in shape and lots more

He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the history of field hockey and has, on multiple occasions, made the country proud. Hailing from God’s Own Country — Kerala, PR Sreejesh needs no introduction. From being the captain of the national team to winning two Olympic medals, he had a massive role in putting hockey on the pedestal. Following the Paris Olympics, he retired from hockey and now is in the capacity of the head coach of the India Men’s National U-21 Team. In Bengaluru recently for the Simply Sport Annual Dinner 2024: Decoding India’s Performance at Paris Olympics 2024, PR Sreejesh was also appointed as an advisor on the Simply Sport Foundation (SSF) Board. We got chatty with him before the event, to talk about the sport, his daily routine, his experiences leading the Indian Hockey team and more…

You have been appointed as the advisor to the SSF — what does that entail?

It is an honour to be associated with a foundation like Simply Sport who are already doing some incredible work at the grassroot level. I believe India needs more work to be done at that level to increase our performance/results at the elite level, that’s what is currently needed. I am happy to associate with them and play a little part. The foundation is playing a crucial role in the Indian Sports Ecosystem. As I said, we need more organisations, government and players to work at the grassroot level to reduce the gap between the top and the base, that’s where most of our elite athletes will be picked up from in the next 10-20 years.

It was quite the finish to your hockey career with the bronze medal at the recently concluded Paris Olympics?

It is a dream send off for any athlete in their career. Sachin Tendulkar got something similar like this when he won the World Cup. But for me, bronze is no lesser than a World Cup. I believe I was more privileged than Sachin because I got an opportunity to carry the national flag in the closing ceremony. Hockey India retired my number 16 jersey from the senior team. I believe that this is something that a sportsperson can dream about.

Every time you make the country proud and return home, there is this feeling that you will get to wear the jersey again and make the country proud. This time it might have been something different though?

This time it was a totally different scenario. Yes, I won back-to-back medals for sure, becoming the first Keralite to do so. But now my role has changed. Now, I am an example to children. People believed that hockey was not a huge deal in Kerala but I proved them wrong. The young kids who want to pick up a hockey stick, I am an inspiration to them. My motto now is to mentor the young children to pick up hockey sticks and play the game.

In 2016, you were appointed as the captain of the Indian Hockey Team. From that time, till today, what have been your key learnings, both as a professional player and personally?

Being a hockey team member, I have realised that captainship works more off the field than on the field. On the field, our game is too fast. It’s quite hard to influence anybody. The role of the captain is more off the field — to keep the team players together, making sure that they are okay with everything, if anyone is under pressure, talking to them and making sure that they get back. When you lose, it’s not the end of the world. When you win, it’s not the end of the world. The game still goes on and you just need to keep on improving. Every match will teach you something and you just need to learn and move on. The same applies to life as well.

At 36, how do you keep yourself fit?

It’s a demand of my game. If you want to perform at your peak level, you just need to keep yourself fit and that’s why I am here. At 36, I played my last Olympics. Also, there is a lot of competition in the team. One player is working harder than the other. Somebody is performing really well, that’s also helping you to push yourself hard and play and get into your best shape.

What does your daily routine look like?

On a normal training day, I wake up, have breakfast, go for my training, come back, recover, have lunch, take a nap, read and then an evening training session. Then I come back, freshen up, go for dinner and if there is time, watch movies or read again. Sometimes, you also have meetings with your coaches.

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