What made India women’s hockey coach Harendra Singh step down from position? Here's the reason

India womenrsquos hockey coach Harendra Singh stepped down from his position with immediate effect citing ldquopersonal reasonsrdquo on MondayHowever it seems that itrsquos the girls who had a problem with him ldquogetting a bit too personalrdquoIt is learnt that some members of the womenrsquos team got together on Monday and met Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey and secretary general Bholanath Singh at the ongoing national camp in Bangalore and complained about Harendrarsquos conduct ldquoHarendra was unnecessarily getting too personal with the girls He would comment on their clothes and inquire about their boyfriends He would also not want them to be on the phone and would get intrusive with video calls While Harendra is known to be aggressive as a coach and that can also include being abusive at times itrsquos his constant questioning and probing that eventually got to the girlsrdquo a source told middayHarendra who previously coached the USA menrsquos hockey team had taken over the Indian womenrsquos teamrsquos reins from twotime Olympic medallist Janneke Schopman of the Netherlands in April last yearLoaded with experienceIn the past he has also coached the Indian menrsquos senior team besides coaching the Indian junior menrsquos team to the FIH Jr World Cup title at Lucknow in 2016 Under Harendra 56 the Indian womenrsquos team won the Asian Champions Trophy title in Rajgir Bihar last yearAccording to sources whenever the girls felt uncomfortable with Harendrarsquos line of questioning he would turn around and say ldquoYou are like my daughtersrdquo This it is learnt would only further enrage the girls who have told the higher ups ldquoWe donrsquot need a father we need a coachrdquoAfter tendering his resignation Harendra said via a Hockey India release that he was privileged to coach the womenrsquos national team ldquoThough personal reasons call me to step away my heart remains with this extraordinary team and their ongoing success I will always cherish my journey with Hockey India and continue to support their efforts to take Indian hockey to the highest levels of achievementrdquo said HarendraAccepting the resignation Hockey India president Tirkey said ldquoWe thank Harendra for his services His commitment towards the development of Indian hockey is well known We will soon start the process of appointing a new coach There were some complaints from players about his high handedness and strict attitude but this was not the issue behind his resignationrdquoHarendrarsquos report card with this womenrsquos team makes for a disappointing read Other than winning the Asian Champions Trophy at home the team had no other achievement In fact having won just two of their 16 matches at the FIH Pro League 202425 the Indian women finished ninth confirming their relegation to next yearrsquos FIH Nations CupPerformance another issueldquoHockey India were also not too pleased with Harendrarsquos performance considering his monthly salary is more than one million rupees so the pressure on him was building any way It was better for him to step down rather than be sackedrdquo said the sourceAccording to PTI Dutch tactician Sjoerd Marijne who was head coach of the Indian womenrsquos team that finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 could return as chief coach Marijne had resigned as head coach of the womenrsquos team in August 2021