New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI): Indian ladies’s hockey staff chief coach Sjoerd Marijne stated that forward of the World Cup Qualifiers and the Asian Games scheduled for this 12 months, the highest priorities stay health and constructing a powerful unit which might come collectively and carry out properly.
Marijne, who returned to the ladies’s programme in December 2025 after a four-year hiatus, has emphasised that his instant focus is well-defined. With an eye fixed on the key assignments within the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, the Dutchman has emphasised the significance of constructing robust staff chemistry whereas additionally elevating health requirements throughout the squad.
‘Our first precedence proper now’s health, which is an important facet for us. Alongside that, the main focus is on coming collectively and functioning as a powerful unit,’ Marijne advised SAI as quoted by a Hockey India press launch. ‘From there on, we are able to work on all the opposite issues like strategies,’ he added.
The ladies’s staff has its eyes firmly on the FIH Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Hyderabad from March 8-14, the Asian Games 2026 from September-October, and upcoming main competitions within the broader LA 2028 Olympic cycle.
Marijne, below whose steerage the Indian ladies’s staff achieved a historic fourth-place end on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, swiftly took cost of the continued nationwide teaching camp on the Sports Authority of India’s regional centre in Bengaluru, which runs till February 18. The camp initially featured 49 players–43 seniors and 6 juniors–before the group was trimmed to 29 following choice trials carried out by Hockey India.
Looking again at the previous few weeks of coaching with the Indian staff, Marijne talked about, ‘We are nonetheless attending to know one another. While I’m accustomed to a couple of of the gamers from earlier than, not everybody is understood to me but. It is essential for us to work at a person degree and perceive what’s greatest for every participant. We are receiving robust help from the power and conditioning coaches, who’re taking part in a key position in guiding this course of,’ the Dutchman defined.
‘Right now, crucial factor is managing the gamers’ our bodies and total health. The tactical framework is already clear, and that’s not what’s going to make the distinction at this stage. We are working collectively in direction of a standard aim, and that’s exactly why I made a decision to return,’ he added. (ANI)