The Indian women’s hockey team has been in a slumber over the past few years. Ever since the team failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the unceremonious exit of the then coach Janneke Schopman, things have rarely looked up.
At the start of a crucial 2026 season, which includes some high stakes tournaments like the FIH Women’s World Cup and the Asian Games, Hockey India have brought in two foreign coaches to reclaim their glory days of 2021 where they earned a historic fourth-place finish at the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Sjoerd Marijne, who led the team in Tokyo, was reappointed as the senior team head coach in January this year, while Tim White, who has enjoyed significant success in European and Australian circuit, was brought in to head the junior team earlier this month.
Marijne and White are now working hand-in-hand to uplift Indian women’s hockey back to the elite level.
“Any team that wants to be world class and have sustainable success, you have to have good collaboration between senior program and the pathway junior program and below,” said White, who has closely observed how seamlessly the juniors in Belgium transitioned into the senior team to emerge as a vital cog in the wheel.
“That happened in Belgium with success and I’m really confident already working with shoot here that um that that’s going to happen,” he added in a media interaction.
The two coaches – Marijne and White – often share notes on how the teams are performing. The former, in particular, ensures that the junior coach is in loop about the requirements and the playstyle within the senior setup.
“I always keep an eye on what Tim’s doing with the juniors and vice versa,” said Marijne. “I also share my thoughts about what we are working on with the senior team, what makes the difference and Tim is implementing it with the juniors.
“For instance, during the tour to Argentina, I told the defenders what I expect of them. I told the midfielders and strikers what I need out of them.
“These are the notes that I share with Tim as well so that he can implement them with juniors and so when they are promoted to the senior setup, they know exactly what is expected of them,” he added.
They drop in to each other’s training sessions to get a better understanding of how the teams are shaping up. The fact that they all camp together in Bengaluru helps.
“I was on the pitch today with the seniors just understanding how they train and helping them and then of course looking to understand from Sjoerd what sort of attributes of players he’s looking for,” said White, who is still settling into the role, having taken over as the junior coach just three weeks back.
Marjine, meanwhile, also closely tracks the juniors, who have already made it to the senior team and reports their development diligently to White.
“Don’t forget we already have some juniors in the senior setup like Sakshi and Ishika. These girls can also play on the junior team still, but they are now with up. I keep Tim up to date on how they’re doing,” the senior coach quipped.
As Indian women’s hockey look to claw their way back to the elite level, the focus will firmly be on how Marijne and White, in tandem, to make the most of their resources in the next few months.
