Indian hockey team coaches Janneke Schopman and Graham Reid named FIH Coaches of the Year

India v Great Britain - Hockey - Olympics: Day 9
Graham Reid during Team India's huddle in Tokyo 2020 Olympics (PC: Getty)

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced Thursday that Janneke Schopman of the Netherlands and Graham Reid of Australia, the head coaches of the Indian women's and men’s teams, respectively, were voted the FIH Coaches of the Year 2021-22.

Janneke has been an analytical coach for the Indian women's hockey team since January 2020 but became head coach post-2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held last year in Japan. The Indian women’s team finished fourth.

“It really does feel pretty amazing to win the award when you are up against some of the finest coaches in the world. The award is a recognition of what the players were able to execute on the field and I am happy the team is progressing well,” said Janneke.

The Indian team under Schopman made its debut in the FIH Hockey Pro League in the 2021-22 season and produced incredible results, including wins over Germany, Netherlands, Spain and eventual champions Argentina to finish in the 3rd position. The shoot-out win over Argentina was the most impressive among them.

However, at the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands, India finished ninth. But the Indian team regrouped themselves to beat New Zealand in a bronze medal match at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games to earn a podium finish for the first time in 16 years.

Janneke was up against Jamilon Mulders (Netherlands), Katrina Powell (Australia), Raoul Ehren (Belgium) and Adrian Lock (Spain). She earned 38.2 points, while Netherlands coach Jamilon came second with 28.2.

Reid, who took over as the head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team in April 2019, was instrumental in guiding the national team to a bronze medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Games. It was the first Olympic Games medal for the Indian Hockey contingent after a gap of 41 years.

Afterwards, India settled for silver after suffering a 0-7 defeat at the hands of Australia at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

India also finished third behind the Netherlands and Belgium in the FIH Hockey Pro League in 2021-22.

Of the five coaches in the fray for the prestigious FIH award, Reid had 31.4 points, while Netherlands coach Jeroen Delmee earned 26.9 points.

“I think these awards are representative of how the team plays and not the individual and I think that’s the environment I try to foster in the group. It’s fantastic to receive the award but I think it’s the whole team that has achieved it,” said Reid.
Edited by Tejas Rathi