BENGALURU: Roelant Oltmans is normally a serious guy. At least that is the impression he gives you on-field, urging his troops to go for one extra goal, or put in that extra ounce of concentration so as to see out a close game. But on Thursday at the SAI Centre here, the Indian men’s hockey chief coach was all smiles. Away from the pressures that matchdays bring, Oltmans was jovial and trigger-happy, answering journalists’ questions and seeing the funny side of things with equal aplomb.
And talk of 11 players from the Junior World Cup-winning side making the camp, which will go on until April 23 — after which the chosen players will make the trip to Malaysia for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held from April 29 to May 6 — brought out another spark in the Dutchman.
“This is the pattern in all sports. Younger, hungrier players will always come in at some point and stake their claim. That’s when it is up to me as a coach to ensure that they get the required exposure at the senior level. Only then will they be able to take their development further and not stagnate. This will not only ensure that the seniors take added responsibility and work towards helping these youngsters when and if needed, but also breed healthy competition among them,” he noted.
Bengaluru has been quite hot this year, but while that hasn’t exactly hampered training, the absence of VR Raghunath from the camp did raise a few eyebrows. “Yes, the decision was taken after Raghu and I had a conversation, and he understood the reasoning. He was dropped from the camp, and in most probability won’t be back. Like I said, there are younger players who have been playing at his level for a while now, and they deserve a chance. This will happen every Olympic cycle, fresh players coming in and older ones being phased out,” the 62-year-old opined.
Despite some players sharing captaincy duties over the past few events, he made it clear that goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was undisputed skipper. “Sometimes people don’t understand what I’m doing because I don’t have different captains. It’s just one, and that’s Sree, but I don’t like him wearing the armband on the pitch. Why not? Because sometimes, the captain can get a team punishment, and that means going off-field for 2-3 minutes. And if that’s your goalkeeper, it becomes a problem. Anyhow, Sree has done a great job since taking over the post a year ago, and there’s no doubt that he’s my captain for the squad.”
This is an important season for Oltmans’ men with several big tournaments on the map. After Azlan Shah, the men will be competing in the World Hockey League Semifinals and Finals. Asia Cup is also within that timeframe and the coach is determined to bag the same. “Yes, it’s a crucial year for us, not least because it culminates in the World Cup at home next year. But one event that we are aiming to win is the Asia Cup, in which we finished second the last time, in 2013. That would also fulfil one objective of establishing our dominance at the continental level,” he concluded.
raviiyer@newindianexpress.com