India’s women hockey coach hits out: ‘Didn’t feel like I was valued or respected Hockey India’ | Hockey News

Lamenting that ‘this country is extremely difficult for a woman’, the first female to coach the Indian hockey team broke down as she opened up about the day-to-day challenges she has faced in her two-and-a-half years in the job.An Olympic gold medall, Janneke Schopman, claimed she felt ‘alone a lot in the last two years’, wasn’t ‘valued and respected’ her employers Hockey India and hit out at the differential treatment towards the women’s team compared to the men.
Schopman, 46, further added that she ‘should have left after the Commonwealth Games because it was too hard for me to manage’ although she had ‘no regrets’ for staying on.
Talking about dealing with officials in Hockey India, Schopman said: “Very hard, very hard. Because, you know, I come from a culture where women are respected and valued. I don’t feel that here.”
The Dutchwoman was speaking moments after India defeated the USA via tie-breakers in a FIH Pro League match at the Birsa Munda Stadium here on Sunday.
Indian women’s hockey team captain Savita Punia with teammate Bichu Devi Kharibam and head coach Janneke Schopman during a training session ahead of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 match against USA, at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. (PTI Photo)
When asked about her future with the team, which failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics after finishing fourth in Tokyo three years ago, Schopman replied: “Maybe, despite the fact that I know it’s tough. But like I said, I love the girls and I see so much potential. But it is very hard for me as an individual.”
Schopman came to India in January 2020 as an analytical coach on the staff of then-chief coach Sjoerd Marijne. From that moment on, Schopman said she didn’t feel valued those running the sport.

“Even when I was the assant coach some people wouldn’t even look at me or wouldn’t acknowledge me or wouldn’t respond and then you become the chief coach and all of a sudden people are interested in you. I struggled a lot with that,” she said.
Marijne left soon after the Tokyo Olympics and, as per the succession plan designed at the time, Schopman – who was earlier the USA coach – took over. Even then, her opinions weren’t valued, she claimed and added she didn’t get much support.
“I look at the difference at how men’s coaches are treated… between me and the men’s coach, or the girls and the men’s team, just in general. They (the women players) never complain and they work so hard. I shouldn’t speak for them so I won’t. I love them. I think they work so hard, they do what I ask, they wanna learn, wanna do new things,” Schopman said. “But for me personally, coming from the Netherlands, having worked in the USA, this country is extremely difficult as a woman, coming from a culture where, yeah, you can have an opinion and it’s valued. It’s really hard.”
Schopman said the differential treatment became apparent to her last year after the men’s team failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Cup on home soil. After that result, she said all the focus was on the men’s team.
“I just know that when the World Cup didn’t go well for the men’s team, all focus was on them. Since February 2023, all the focus was on the men’s team,” she said.

The federation’s secretary-general Bhola Nath Singh reportedly wanted to sack her after India could not win the gold medal at the Asian Games last year but could not do so because of Hockey India president and former India captain Dilip Tirkey’s intervention.
Schopman said she ‘received a lot of support’ from Tirkey as well as the organisation’s CEO Elena Norman.
Schopman did not talk about any incident specifically but said ‘Elena has been very, very supportive always and she’s kept me in this position’.
“If you asked my family, I should have left after a year. In hindsight, I should have left after the Commonwealth Games because it was too hard for me to manage,” she said.
Asked what was the hardest bit, she said: “The fact that I feel – I don’t even know if it’s true – that I am not taken seriously.” When prodded further and asked if it was from people in Hockey India, Schopman nodded affirmatively.
Schopman’s future has been a part of speculation ever since India failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics in January. Her contract was till the Games in July-August and India’s next assignment, as per the calendar, is the European leg of the Pro League in May.
She said whether she continues depends on whether the players want her, the federation is keen to keep her on board and if she ‘wants to be there’. “For me, what’s really important is that ‘can I do the job myself’ but also, do I get the support that I need? Like I said, the girls are amazing. If the support is really there for them, then I do think the Indian women’s team has a bright future.”