CHENNAI: Stand on your own and learn by yourself. This was women’s team’s coach Sjoerd Marijne’s mantra for success. While it didn’t work with the men, the women’s side seem to have accepted it to rise up the ladder of success. After an event-filled 2018 that saw Rani Rampal & Co step up to the plate, Marijne assures there are bigger things to accomplish this year. The first step in that to-do list will be to secure a spot at the Tokyo Olympics through the FIH Series Finals that will be held in June in Japan. Improving their match awareness and scoring more goals are a few areas that need more attention, he says. 

“During the training session, you can see the girls taking up responsibility and that is exactly what I wanted. Once the match gets over, defenders, midfielders and forwards do their analysis separately. After that, they all sit together and say the same thing to each other so that everybody understands. 

“They are making progress... the players must want to win and not just the coach. If you have the coach who says you have to go right, left, you to have to run harder it won’t work. Maybe at the initial stage, you would like the coach to instruct you to run harder but you cannot win tournaments with that approach. It’s not like I want them to take decisions on their own in the pitch. But that is how the sport is played. I am happy with the way this technique has worked with the women’s team.”

While last year saw the No 9 side improving significantly in defence, the focus will now be on bettering their goal-scoring opportunities. In order to fine-tune them, the Dutchman started the season by bringing on board Australian great Glenn Turner for a striker-specific camp. The camp was attended by eight players including skipper Rani in December. 

“Glenn has played nearly 120 matches and scored 90 goals. He is known for his drag-flicking abilities. We know we are a good side but when we play crucial matches, we sometimes fail to deliver. We lost the final of the Asian Games and the quarterfinal of the World Cup because the girls lacked match awareness at that time. You need to be in a better position to score even if you create chances.

“The more you are aware of the situation, the easier it becomes to score. To make the girls understand this, we called Glenn. As a striker, he has the knowledge of how to play in the circle. But we cannot expect the girls to be the best strikers just after this camp. It’s a step by step process. They gave positive feedback. Maybe they liked what he said because I might have missed something. It is always important to keep learning to be a complete player.”

The preparations for the Olympic qualifiers begin with a tour to Spain, starting January 24. Rani & Co will play four matches against seventh-ranked Spain and two against Ireland. Following that, they will travel to Japan in March for a Test series. 

“Japan tour will be very short after Spain. This tour is to make sure we keep playing matches to be in good rhythm (before qualifiers). It will also help us get acclimatise to the conditions. Last year, we played a lot of matches and just by that, we made progress.”