Dilpreet Singh's hockey rise: Army Havildar father quit service to coach him
Balwinder Singh left the Army in 2004 so his son could chase hockey, and now watches him play for India live for the first time in Jalandhar.
Indian hockey forward Dilpreet Singh, an Olympic bronze medallist from Butala village in Amritsar district, is playing the Asian Champions Trophy in Jalandhar with his father in the stands for the first time at an international match. The father, former Army Havildar Balwinder Singh, gave up his service career in 2004 to back his son's dream.
The numbers explain the buzz. Dilpreet scored 10 goals at the recently concluded Asian Games and added two in India's opening game at the Asian Champions Trophy. He was also part of the Tokyo Olympics squad that won bronze, ending a 41-year wait for an Indian men's hockey medal at the Games.
The story goes back to 2010. Balwinder took his son to the Nehru Cup Under-15 tournament, where Olympian Harbinder Singh told him that his boy would one day play at the Olympics. Balwinder still gets emotional recalling it.
Dilpreet started hockey at five. After taking voluntary retirement, Balwinder became a coach at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy in Amritsar, about 50 km from home, and took Dilpreet along. The boy was seven when he moved into the academy with the other trainees. Though his father had a room there, Dilpreet did not live with him. He went home roughly once a month.
That was by design. Balwinder says he wanted his son treated like every other player, learning independence and earning his place through effort. Talent ran in the family too: Dilpreet's grandfather was a national-level long jump champion for a decade, and the boy was named best Under-14 player at his first SN Vohra tournament in Chandigarh.
The road was not smooth. Dilpreet was shifted from the senior to the junior side in 2019, and he missed the squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Balwinder treats such blows as part of sport and has set fresh targets: the 2028 Olympics and the 2030 World Cup.
For families across Punjab weighing the cost of a sporting dream, this is a clear example of what sacrifice and patience can look like. Read the original report at The Tribune.
