He was physically gone for those weeks, but mentally present: Sjoerd Marijne

Women’s hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne cleared the air about his absence before the WC KOLKATA: It was 2020 and the pandemic had just begun.Sjoerd Marijne, the then coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, was in a taxi on his way to the Bengaluru airport to fly back to the Netherlands to visit his family. Halfway through the ride, however, he changed his mind and returned to the Sports Authority of India center.It was a difficult decision, but Marijne decided to stay. A year later, he led India to a historic fourth place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.After six years, Marijne found that he was making a completely different choice. When he returned to take charge of the Indian women’s team for the second time, he had to once again find a way to combine his commitment to the team with being there for his family. This time, with the World Cup looming, he decided to spend a few weeks with his family before rejoining the team – a decision that was agreed when he took up the post.But while Marijne was physically away from the team, he remained closely involved with its preparations. He watched every training session and practice match, staying in touch with the players and conducting video conferences to ensure he stayed on top of the process.“I saw every practice and every practice match. I saw everything. So I wasn’t there in person, but I was there,” Marijne told TOI in an exclusive interview after India recorded their best World Cup finish in 52 years. “I had contact with the players and did video conferences with them, so I was on top of the process.Marijne also credited his support staff, as well as the team’s strength and conditioning staff, for giving him confidence that the team was in good hands. “I had very good assistants like Matias Villa. There was also Tim White, who plays under-21s. So I knew they were in good hands,” he said. “There is a lot of leadership in the team and they knew they had to do well and lead by example, so it was possible.When Marijne rejoined, he found that the team had continued down the same path. “It was the same. It was like I wasn’t gone for the girls too. So that’s a positive,” he said.The Dutchman also emphasized that when he was physically out, he never gave up his duties as a coach. “It wasn’t like I wasn’t there mentally for a couple of weeks. I wasn’t just there physically,” he said.For Marijne, the experience also highlighted the growing maturity in the group. The players were able to take responsibility, lean on the older members and stay true to the structure and culture of the team even with their coach off the training ground.“The players knew I was overseeing everything,” he said. “The main thing is it felt like I was gone. I was gone physically, but it wasn’t like I was gone for the players because I was still involved.”Perhaps that was the biggest reassurance for Marijne — that the team had built enough trust and leadership to keep moving in the same direction even though he wasn’t physically there.