Everyone has to fight for place in team: women's hockey coach Marijne

Past laurels will not guarantee selection and players, irrespective of their stature, will have to fight for their spot in a potentially make or break year for the Indian women's hockey team, its new coach Sjoerd Marijne has asserted. The Indian women's team is going through a difficult phase. It failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics in 2024, an unexpected low after having achieved a historic fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Games under Marijne's guidance. The side also failed to qualify for the FIH Pro League last year and could not find a place in the World Cup through the Asia Cup route. Marijne, who quit due to personal reasons after the 2021 Olympics, was brought back early this year following the removal of Harendra Singh due to poor results. The team is now looking to revive itself at the World Cup qualifiers in Hyderabad from March 8-14 under Marijne. ''We have brought in six junior players and I got to know them really fast. The moment I was appointed, I started watching junior women players' performance in the HIL...I was curious to know how they respond to training sessions with the seniors and that is going really well,'' Marijne told 'PTI Bhasha' in an interview. ''Seniors understand that past achievements don't count, and everyone has to fight for the spot. It's normal in team sport,'' he said when asked about how Tokyo Olympians are reacting to this approach. He also reiterated that things won't change overnight but assured that the team is gradually getting back to its best in terms of fitness after the re-appointment of renowned strength and conditioning coach Wayne Lombard. ''We are getting there with small steps at a time. When Wayne (Lombard) and I arrived, there were a lot of small injuries in the team. That obviously won't go overnight. ''We have to be very careful and take an individual approach. Some players need more time and some less and it is very important to get the freshness back,'' said the Dutch coach. He also has a long-term vision for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics but that road,. in his opinion, would be a tough one to negotiate. ''We were underdogs in Tokyo but even today we are at number nine. The team didn't qualify for Paris Olympics and the Pro League. We are not in the top four in the world so again we have to come from far,'' he explained. ''When you don't qualify for the Olympics, your preparation for the next Olympics starts faster than the other countries participating in the Olympics. Belgium is an example. They didn't qualify for the Olympics but started working on a new process the next day and you can see where they are standing now,'' he added. Marijne said he is also working on mental conditioning and team bonding. ''Fitness is one thing, bonding, getting to know each other and workload management are also important . I also have to know what these girls have learnt in the last few years, what worked and what didn't. ''Fitness levels cannot go up in four-five weeks and if we do too much, there would be a risk of injuries. Workload management is very important and luckily we have a very good support staff. I am happy that Wayne is back and guiding the process,'' he said. Marijne said mental conditioning is important because sometimes inner thoughts become the players' biggest enemy. ''Avoiding negative thoughts is important and it can't be done in one session, it's a process. We are working on it and hired someone for that. We do it with profiling so that players get to know themselves and their teammates much better. It also creates better unity,'' said the coach. When asked whether there were any specific reasons behind the emphasis on team unity, he said that it was because of the feedback he received upon joining. ''I have not been part of the process for the last few years and I cannot comment on what the previous coaches have done. One of the things I have noticed and the feedback I received is that this (team unity) is the thing which needs to be improved,'' said Marijne without divulging any further. His immediate focus is on the World Cup qualifiers, but Marijne is also targeting Pro League qualification, and an Asian Games medal this year for the team. ''I feel very jealous when I see other teams playing in the Pro League, so we have to qualify through the Nations Cup. I am not really worried about the short gap between the World Cup (August) and Asian Games (September-October), as we were in a similar situation in 2018 too,'' he said.