The main aim of the Indian hockey team to outreach the preferred fitness standard has been successfully achieved with the closing of the national camp on Saturday. The coach of the Indian National Hockey Team, Sjoerd Marijne was contended and expressed that the objective of upgrading the fitness of the players have been executed and carried through pretty well. According to Sjoerd Marijne, they also practiced with the junior men’s team to test their fitness advancement and it turned out a very good experience as they saw their progress in handling skills and increasing the speed.
The Indian hockey team was unable to win a medal in the last Olympics though joining the Olympics was an experience in itself. Just then Sjoerd Marijne came in as the chief coach of the Indian hockey women’s team in 2017. Thus, it came as a challenge to the motivational speaker to take up such an important step as the leader of a team, which needs improvement in the fitness section. Without any doubt, the team’s skill level was perfect but fitness needed special attention which can be worked upon in the following months before the next Olympics. Therefore, the group of the women hockey team is getting themselves trained for playing the Olympics next year as believed by Sjoerd Marijne. The team has not participated in any game this year but instead travelled to New Zealand for training.
The 46 years old elucidated that they have been directing their time and chief concentration towards the Olympics. They are taking lessons and being trained in these tours and are expecting to give good performances in the upcoming year which will show their real position. They are following a schedule before the Olympics with the aim to polish up their strategies and execution.
When asked about the need for the break, the coach said that the players have been in a strict schedule and pushed themselves to be trained very hard. They have not objected to their staying away from family or living in a bio secure bubble at the Sports Authority Of India (SAI) campus in Bengaluru, without any exterior communication for the past four and half months. Inspire of the coaching camp being extremely challenging-mentally and physically, the players have withstood all the hardships throughout the training and this makes Marijne quite glad and satisfied about their cooperative attitude. Thus the break is initiated by the coach to retrieve from the mental exhaustion.
Nevertheless, the coach is not that easy on the team, the team has been entrusted with many team related projects as they will be enjoying the break. He added that along with the team being released to their home to spend time with their respective family, they should also stick to the hockey India SOP while socializing and communicating with people as the pandemic still exists. The break being a portion of the training routine without the stick and the ball, they all have been specified of certain tasks to be carried on in the home.