As we inch ever nearer to the beginning of the FIH Hockey Professional League 2025-26 season on 9 December, we’re excited to carry you an unique pre-season interview collection with gamers and coaches from the world’s high hockey nations taking part within the “League of the Finest”.
This collection will dive into the minds of the game’s best athletes and coaches, uncovering their ideas on the upcoming season, private objectives, and the methods their groups are crafting to compete on the highest stage. From seasoned veterans to rising stars, these interviews present a novel glimpse into the eagerness, preparation, and drive that gasoline the groups vying for glory.
In right now’s interview we converse with Jeroen Delmee, coach of the Netherlands males’s hockey staff…
How did you put together for the brand new FIH Hockey Professional League season after successful silver on the European Championship?
We’ve ready like we do for each season. Over the previous interval, the main focus has partly been on the membership competitors, whereas we’ve additionally had weekly coaching periods with the nationwide staff. The most important problem is getting the gamers bodily prepared for the extreme Professional League blocks. In Santiago del Estero, for instance, we’re enjoying 4 matches in 5 days in very heat circumstances. That’s fairly completely different from enjoying one match per week within the cool Dutch local weather.
Final 12 months you received the FIH Hockey Professional League. How do you fee your possibilities for this season?
I’d say our chances are high about the identical as final 12 months. The extent on the high of males’s hockey is extraordinarily shut. Sure, we’re contenders to win the Professional League once more, however the identical goes for a number of different nations. As soon as once more, I count on the ultimate few matches will determine who would be the champion. Since there’s an Olympic ticket to win this time, I count on groups will focus much more on outcomes in direction of the top of the competitors, and a bit much less on long-term improvement.
Are you approaching this FIH Hockey Professional League season in another way now that there’s an Olympic ticket to win? In that case, what’s completely different to your staff?
Not likely. After all, it might be nice to safe that ticket to the LA Olympics as early as potential. However the Professional League can also be a necessary a part of our preparation for subsequent 12 months’s World Cup. We nonetheless need to use the Professional League to additional develop younger gamers and provides them worldwide expertise. It’s merely not potential to play each match with the identical lineup, given how difficult the schedule is. But when we’re in an excellent place in direction of the top of the season, there’s an actual likelihood we’ll shift our focus barely extra in direction of outcomes than improvement.
What does the FIH Hockey Professional League imply to you?
The Professional League is a implausible match with nice matches. It’s an vital a part of our preparation for main worldwide championships. It permits us to measure ourselves towards the world’s finest groups, to provide newcomers a style of worldwide hockey and useful expertise, and naturally, it’s an incredible title to win. With the ability to name your self the very best on the earth over 16 matches is one thing to be happy with, and one thing that actually issues.
What do your gamers study from the FIH Hockey Professional League?
To carry out below stress and to get extra acquainted with worldwide hockey. It’s utterly completely different from membership hockey and requires a distinct set of expertise and qualities from the gamers.
What do you take pleasure in most concerning the FIH Hockey Professional League?
Along with what I discussed earlier, it’s additionally particular and useful to journey with the staff. Occurring journeys collectively to locations like Australia, Argentina, or India is of immense worth. And once you get to play in entrance of packed stadiums… that’s precisely what gamers and coaches stay for.
