Players will need to take game to the next level : Women’s hockey coach Janneke Schopman

Bengaluru : The Indian women’s hockey team chief coach Janneke Schopman is happy to see her team implement its learnings from the FIH Pro League, FIH women’s World Cup and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and hopes players will aim to improve individually going forward.

Schopman added she feels honoured to be nominated for the FIH Women’s Team Coach of the Year Award.”The debut season of the FIH Pro League was a very valuable experience for the team.We played good teams consistently over a period of five months.

We identified aspects where we did really well and the aspects that we needed to improve. I was happy with the way the girls implemented their learnings from the FIH Pro League, FIH Women’s World Cup and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The bronze medal at CWG was very special for me,” said Schopman.Asked about the team’s goals in the future, the coach said, “We are doing an in-depth team evaluation at the moment. Players are also looking at their own individual games and looking at aspects they can get better at.

We need to take our game to the next level to become a more threatening and consistent side.”The coach said her nomination for the FIH award was an affirmation that her team had improved a lot in the last one year.

“It’s a great honour to be nominated for the FIH Women’s Team Coach of the Year Award. This is a recognition for how hard the girls have worked and what they have shown in the past few months.

As a coach, you are only as good as your team.This nomination means that the girls have performed throughout the year and we are on the right track.”