Former assistant coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, Ramesh Parameswaran, has applied for the Dronacharya award, the country’s highest recognition for excellence in sports coaching.
While Hockey India nominated BJ Kariappa and Romesh Pathania for the Dronacharya award, Parameswaran decided to apply for the award through Hockey Karnataka, PTI reported.
“It has been a long, exciting and satisfying journey for me from a junior player to national coach. I have had my share of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, but overall, a most rewarding experience which I treasure,” the 70-year-old said.
“I invested a lot of time, money and energy besides sacrifices, but at the end of the day, it has been worth it all,” added the coach, who has been mentoring young talent at the Karnataka Hockey Academy since 2015.
Parmeswaran represented erstwhile Mysore in the junior national championships in 1969. He was part of the side that won a silver medal at the Asian Games at Bangkok.
After joining the Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore, Parmeswaran took to coaching in 1985 when he trained the Karnataka team for the senior national championships.
A decade later, he was appointed assistant coach of the Indian team, a role he performed until 2008 when he took charge of the Indian Oil squad. His stint with IOCL was hugely successful as the team won many national-level tournaments.
His decision to apply for the Dronacharya award has received commendation from former players such as V Baskaran, captain of the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning team, former National coach MK Kaushik, Dilip Tirkey and Ashish Ballal among others.