new delhi: It is not just players who stage a comeback, coaches also do. On Friday, Hockey India announced the return of Sjoerd Marijne as coach of the women’s hockey team.
Marijne was in charge of the Indian team which finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Since then, the Indian women’s hockey team has gone through several bad patches, blame for which needs to be shared by the federation as well.
Social media on Friday welcomed the return of Marijne as the ‘Kabir Khan’ of ‘Chak De India’ movie. No exaggeration, decades after Shah Rukh Khan featured in a blockbuster movie, what Marijne achieved as coach during the dark days of the Covid pandemic was big. It was a heart-breaking end as India came close to winning a historic bronze medal.
Sadly, when the Indian team returned from Tokyo, politics had begun. It is no secret, Marijne was unhappy and left India on a sad note. Yet, his heart was always with the Indian team. He had seen from a distance the team plummet to depths of despair.
The first disaster happened when the Indian team failed to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, with Janneke Schopman as coach. Hockey India played games with her too. It went from bad to worse when India failed to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The blame was put on Schopman, but everyone knew the Hockey India officials had also played dirty.
Sadly, the return of Harendra Singh in 2023, a failed coach, saw more misery. His high-handedness and rude behaviour with girls in the team could not be tolerated. It was only after written complaints were written against Harendra and later withdrawn, the coach took an honorable exit route by resigning in November. But then, the damage was done.
Hockey India was left red-faced. They approached Sjoerd Marijne, whose return is seen as a positive sign. More interesting was the social media post from the coach himself as he expressed joy over returning to the coaching job in India. Marijne will be supported by Matias Vila as the analytical coach.
Vila is a former midfielder from Argentina who made his international debut in 1997 and competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics for Argentina.
That women’s hockey is being given importance in Indian can be gauged from the fact Wayne Lombard also returns as scientific advisor with the team.
“It’s great to be back after four-and-a-half years. I return with fresh energy and a clear vision to support the team’s growth and help the players achieve their full potential on the world stage,” said Sjoerd Marijne in a statement.