Terry Walsh has been one of Indian hockey’s most successful coaches, helping the team pick up its game, beat Pakistan and secure an Asiad gold. However, Walsh followed this with his sudden resignation. Speaking with Rohit E David, Walsh discussed why he decided to quit, changes he’s called for, where his resignation stands today – and what ails Indian hockey:

Have you retracted your resignation?

Let me make it clear – I have not withdrawn my resignation. As per the contract with Indian hockey, I had to give one month’s notice for resignation. The deadline to my resignation reaches its natural end point on November 19, 2014.

However, requests to withdraw my resignation were made by both Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India (HI).

What are some demands you’ve made to SAI?

There have been no demands – only requests. I suggested changes to the present contractual agreement. The most critical of these is the ability for the programme to have functional autonomy. A high-performance framework has been implemented by HI in conjunction with SAI – however, there’s very limited decision-making autonomy within the present framework. People charged with trying to enhance the programme have very limited ability to implement organisational changes.

A request I’ve made is to spend organisation and programme design time whilst being offshore from my home in Perth. This concerns periods of time when the national programme is not in centralised camp.

This year has been incredibly demanding. Next year is much less so, then 2016, leading into Rio, will again be hectic. The thought that being away from India for several weeks implies that no work is done is so old-fashioned and displays a complete lack of trust.

You’ve cited bureaucratic issues – what are these?

Delays in simple processes, tardiness of decision-making implementation, out-of-date financial controls and a notable lack of flexibility undermine the development and strength of India’s hockey programme.

As a foreign coach, did you face communication gaps with the players?

Frequent translation and the willingness to discuss in Hindi emphasises the necessity for simplicity in avoiding misunderstandings – for me, this is crucial.

Not for one moment do I pretend that every player always understands what I say. The percentage of understanding has gradually grown to where I believe that with our communication tools, we’re able to provide players with information that’s, in the most part, well understood.

What ails hockey’s overall growth in India?

There’s a need to make the game grow domestically. Having kids play hockey in the streets or in small available public spaces is what should drive hockey’s aspirations in the country.

There seems to be a false perception that you must have a synthetic pitch with all the modern trimmings, otherwise it’s not possible to succeed – this is complete nonsense.

How do you see your role as coach?

Coaching an international sporting team requires many components of awareness and oversight, but they all revolve around the present and future of the players’ development.

If you lose sight of your key role – performance of the players – then your tenure is probably limited.