Hockey India high-performance director Roelant Oltmans says World Cup preparations are on track

Hockey India’s high-performance director Roelant Oltmans

Roelant Oltmans, the director of high performance for Hockey India, says that he is “enjoying “ every moment of the high-pressure job that he has undertaken.

Indian hockey has seen many foreign faces come and go in the past, with the appointees generally coming in with much fanfare and hype, but going out on a rather bitter and disappointing note.

But, that trend looks like it might be broken thanks to Oltmans.

Oltmans in his glittering 25-year-career has taken his native national side to both the Olympic and World Cup gold medals in the past and there’s no questioning that he’s a winner.

Oltmans was in Chennai to conduct a seminar on behalf of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu from November 27-30. The champion coach will be sharing his vast experience and expertise garnered through his long career with hockey coaches from Tamil Nadu.

He emphasized that one of the keys to improvement was the better coaching of Indian coaches, a point that he said he would be harping on during his clinic in Chennai.

“Kids work with many coaches until they reach the senior level. Their develop ment in every aspect of the game -skill, technical, physical and mental is in the hands of coaches. So right coaching is important at every stage,“ said Oltmans.

As high-performance director, Oltmans’ job involves overseeing the progress of all the national teams, junior and senior, men and women.

His seminar in Chennai though would be the first time that he is actually engaging in any sort of interaction with coaches from a particular state.

“I’m eager to start my work here and feedback from the participants would be of great value for me,“ he said.

Taking questions from the press, Oltman said when asked if India’s preparations for the next World Cup were on track – “Yes, we are, we have certainly made progress on all fronts.”

“But it will take time for Indian hockey to do well at the Olympics and the Champions Trophy. Don’t forget that India haven’t won a medal in a major event since the 1975 World Cup (discounting the gold from the depleted 1980 Moscow Olympics). Top teams work up to 10,000 hours to win a big medal.

We should aim to finishing in 5 to 8 in next year’s World Cup. Winning a medal at the 2018 World Cup, to be held in New Delhi, is a realistic ambition“, added the Dutchman.

He was also quiet upbeat over the appointment of Australian Terry Walsh as the head coach of the men’s national team.

“Walsh, a well-known name across the world, is the right man. He has a lot of experience. I’m not surprised that Walsh has a contract until the 2016 Rio Olympics,“ he said.

The national team is in for a very challenging 2014 according to Oltmans, “We will have our hands full with the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup and Champions Trophy. The final shape of our squad ahead of 2014 will be known after the junior World Cup in New Delhi next month. I have no doubt that there is talent in the country.”

“The key is to progress in the right way. I’m happy that our players are gaining valuable experience by playing in Europe more these days. Another important thing is playing matches competitively because training is vastly different from playing,“ he added.

He also had good things to say about the goalkeepers in the country and the Hockey India League concept (HIL).

“Our goalkeepers are the best in Asia,“ he said and added that the HIL was a fine platform for youngsters as they get to play with established international stars.

So far, the Indian national team has performed admirably with him installed as the high-performance director with rousing performances at the Asia Cup and the Sultan of Johor tournament. After taking charge of the team directly as head coach for a brief while, Oltmans will now go back to his executive role after the appointment of Australian Terry Walsh as head coach. And there is much hope that the partnership of Oltmans and Walsh will take Indian hockey to the promised land.

(Quotes courtesy: The Asian Age)