But jokes aside, he reveals he's brought a crop of young blood to expose them to a high-octane tourney environment at the cup, which is the third chapter of the annual HB Festival of Hockey boasting six Olympic contenders.
"There aren't too many tournaments before the Olympics now where they can come to play under pressure to work out what's our best group."
While they lost 4-0 to non-Olympic side Ireland on Sunday Hawgood feels it was a better display from his troops than the 1-0 loss to the Black Caps the day before.
"On day one we hung on and defended well but turned over too much possession in the back half of the field," he says, adding while they conceded four penalty corners to the Irish they were in a better position to iron out creases.
"The number 4-nil looks bad but we know it's four penalty corners so we can tidy up two or three of them," says Hawgood, lauding the circle penetration from his side.
While the general belief is India lack aggression his perception is they don't know when to use it.
"So the aggression, sometimes, comes out at the wrong time."
Instead he juxtaposes a sense of mongrel with reflecting on the fitness of India from 2010 World Cup to now.
"The changes that have been made physically mean they are in a lot better physical shape now," he says, satisfied the skills and speed come on the foundation of more strength.
What his players lack is knowledge of the game primarily because they don't have club competition in India so the internationals effectively become their dress rehearsal stage.
"All their grounding and competition are done at the high level so it's not like you can say I'll go back to club hockey for six weeks before the next tour because they just don't have that."
Cultural differences with other countries mean females won't leave the shores to ply their trade abroad.
"Western girls travel quite easily with no cultural issues," he says, accepting it's a great idea but executing it in India will make it a complex issue.
Hawgood feels Indian hockey is "unique because they have skills that no one else in the world has".
"So it's just a matter of how you make it more effective and consistent," he says, discounting any suggestions of borrowing European, South American or Australasian traits to find a model that will make India world beaters overnight.
"My model is to get better then stay there. Get better a bit more and stay there."
What outsiders fail to comprehend, he says, is that India's women have never qualified for Olympics so the enormity of achieving that in Rio will be revolutionary.
"You've actually got to go to one to understand what it's all about," he says of India women whose maiden appearance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics came from an invite because teams boycotted Russia.
With their men winning gold through the 1940s when hockey was the No1 sport, expectations are high.
However, the bubble women exist in is different or even non-existent at times.
"I mentioned Roger Federer in a meeting and they said, 'Who?'
"So my goal is we need to be the best we can be at this stage and then the progression will have the model."
As the No11 seeds to Rio, their ambition is to make the quarters.
"If we make that then we've overachieved. As people say, 'Incredible India', so anything can happen."
Today's games:
For the third annual international women's invitational tourney at the Unison Hockey Stadium in Hastings:
* 12pm: South Korea v Japan.
* 2pm: Australia v Canada.
* 4pm: China v India.
* 6pm: Black Sticks v Ireland.
