BENGALURU: When Sjoerd Marijne was re-appointed as chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team at the start of the year, his first order of business was fairly clear. "Improving unity," he says. What he had seen was a broken team. There was nothing right. The performances had been below par, the feel-good factor had evaporated a long time ago and the light at the end of the tunnel, it seemed, was that of an onrushing train.
Seven months later, the Dutchman, part of the management who had named the squad for the Asian Games on Friday, is in a happier place.
"Very happy," he tells this daily on the team combination. "Over the last few months, we have taken different players to different tournaments to see who's performing and not, to see who's fitting the team and not."
A big part of that process lay in improving team ethos, unity and the players who contributed to improving the culture and discipline. "When I came in, the main thing was to create more unity inside and out," Marijne, who had coached the women's team to fourth place in Tokyo in 2021, says. "How do we treat each other, how do we want to be seen inside and outside the pitch? Culture really shapes teams. Players focused on the team and not on themselves was one of the things..."
The women's team, who have never won gold at the Asian Games, do not start favourites. That would be China, current Olympic silver-medallists. By rankings, though, India are in second place in Asia so Marijne and his wards can do something special. But the 52-year-old isn't interested in looking at other teams. "First," he says, "focus on ourselves. Defend our structure, stay effective with penalty corners and how to be better. If we don't do those things, it doesn't matter who we face."
Over the last few months, results have started to turn for the team. In March, they qualified for the World Cup at a qualifier in India. In June, they won the Nations Cup in New Zealand, thus winning promotion back to the Pro League for next season. For the time being, though, Marijne's messaging seems to be clear. "Improving unity."