Hockey: Janneke Schopman, Graham Reid named FIH Coaches of the Year for women’s and men’s teams

Indian national team head coaches Janneke Schopman of Netherlands and Graham Reid of Australia have been voted the FIH Coaches of the Year 2021-’22 in the women’s team and men’s team categories respectively, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced on Thursday.

After India’s remarkable run in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, where they missed out on a bronze medal by a whisker, the tough task of replicating similar success fell to Janneke Schopman. The Dutch coach had already been a part of the Indian set up, having joined the team as an analytical coach in January 2020, but the step-up to head coach role would shine a spotlight like never before.

India’s talismanic player, Rani Rampal, spent most of the 2021-22 season injured, missing out on major events including most of the FIH Hockey Pro League and the entirety of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. However, a big role in Schopman’s success came from her ability to develop a squad that was greater than the sum of its parts. Her tenure so far has seen many players come into prominence, carrying out specific tasks that they excel at.

The Indian team under Schopman made their debut in the FIH Hockey Pro League in the 2021-22 season and produced good results including wins over Germany, Netherlands (not the first team), Spain and eventual champions Argentina (in a shoot-out) to finish in the 3rd position. The shoot-out win over Argentina was especially impressive, as India largely dominated the game against a team who had only dropped 6 points in total, throughout the season.

The Indian team went to the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 on the back of the strong showing in the Pro League, but struggled to score goals in the event despite dominating most of their matches, and finish 9th, albeit as the joint best Asian team. They headed to the Commonwealth Games, just 10 days after finishing their World Cup games and India’s persistence finally paid off as they started making their positive play count towards goals and ended their campaign finishing on the podium for the first time in 16 years, defeating New Zealand in the Bronze medal match in a shoot-out.

For their part, the players frequently bring up the role Janneke has played in getting them to believe in themselves, and every time they step out on the field they want to do not just their country, but also their coach, proud and this feeling was reflected in their celebrations as they won the bronze medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Reid’s recognition

Ever since he took over as the head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team in April 2019, Graham Reid has been instrumental in the improvement of the Indian hockey team that has always been considered a thrilling team to watch, but by its own lofty standards, suffered a long medal drought at major competitions.

Under Reid India has reached many new highs in its recent history, which includes winning its first Olympic medal (bronze) at the Tokyo Games in 2021, after a gap of 41 years. India also won the silver medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, climbing back onto the podium after missing out in the previous edition of the games in 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia.

India played its first full season of FIH Hockey Pro League in 2021-22, and earned a well-deserved place on the podium, finishing in the third position behind Netherlands and Belgium. India was a thrilling team to watch during the Pro League, scoring almost at will. Reid’s team managed to score 62 goals across their campaign, which is the highest tally of goals scored by a team, not just in this season, but in the history of the Pro League.

Reid has helped develop a talent pool for India, that a total of 36 players represented the Indian team in season 3 of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Reid also was the coach of the Indian men’s hockey team that won the inaugural Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022, winning every single game along the way.