“The goal is to qualify for the Pro League,” says Indian Women’s Hockey team coach Janneke Schopman ahead of the Nations Cup

The Indian Women’s Hockey team is gearing up for the FIH Women’s Nations Cup as they look to qualify for next season’s FIH Hockey Pro League. Indian Women’s Hockey head coach Janneke Schopman feels that the Nations Cup will be an ideal preparation for the upcoming Asian Games next year and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 33 probable players have trained really hard at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bengaluru as they assembled for a two week national camp following a break after the National Games. The camp was held to focus on the preparation of the Nations Cup which is scheduled in Valencia, Spain from December 10-17. It will be a very exciting tournament for the Indian Eves as the champion team will qualify for the Women’s Pro League 2023-24 season.

“The next four weeks are quite important for us as we will go through all the aspects of our game that needs to improve before we take on these strong teams in the FIH Nations Cup,” Schopman shared in a Hockey India release as she is preparing her players to win the Nations Cup.

She shared how every global event will be a big challenge for them as they will look to give a good account of themselves and take this as a platform to prepare for events like Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. So she feels that this tournament can be a good learning point for the Indian eves.

“It will certainly be a challenging competition as all teams will come with a goal to qualify for the FIH Hockey Pro League by winning this tournament,” Schopman shared. “For us, a place in the Pro League is critical as it gives us great exposure playing alongside some of the top teams in the world as we prepare for important events like Asian Games and the Paris Olympics. The players very well understand the importance of the Nations Cup,” she added.
The players picked for the tournament were closely scrutinized during the National Games and now they will fight for a spot in the starting lineup. India are clubbed in Canada, Japan and South Africa while Ireland, Italy, Korea and Spain are in Pool A.