"This Country Is Extremely Difficult As A Woman": India Women's Hockey Coach Alleges Serious Discrimination

Janneke Schopman, the Indian women's hockey team coach, has made some serious allegations against Hockey India, the governing body of the sport in the country, in an interview to The Indian Express. Janneke Schopman gave the interview on Sunday after India defeated USA 2-1 in their final match of the Rourkela leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. Janneke, an Olympic gold medallist with the Netherlands in 2008, started as an analytical coach with the Indian team in 2020 and was subsequently made the chief coach after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. 

Janneke, the first woman coach of the Indian hockey team, broke down during the interview, according to the report, while speaking about her day-to-day challenges in the top job and dealing with Hockey India. 

"Very hard, very hard. Because, you know, I come from a culture where women are respected and valued. I don't feel that here," she said. 

Janneke Schopman, 46, added she felt 'alone a lot in the last two years' and claimed claimed she wasn't 'valued and respected' by her employers. 

"Even when I was the assistant 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.

"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."

She added that she should have left after the Commonwealth Games in 2022 where India won the bronze medal.

"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.

Janneke future with the Indian women's hockey team has been a matter of speculation since the side failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics in January after finishing fourth in the Tokyo Olympics. 

"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," Janneke said if she will stay with the Indian team or not.

The India hockey federation is yet to respond to the interview.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Women Hockey