India’s Dutch coach cancels trip home on way to airport
MUMBAI: A break in many Indian national sports camps is usually an opportunity for foreign coaches and support staff attached to them to make a trip home to meet their families. It was meant to be no different for those with the Indian women’s hockey team.
When the team’s tour of China was scrapped a few days ago due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, its Dutch chief coach Sjoerd Marijne decided to make a dash home to spend a week with his wife and two daughters and return to Bengaluru as the players were due to arrive only on March 22 for the next stage of the camp.
He had planned to leave on Friday night. But minutes into the cab ride from the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) South Centre to the Bengaluru airport, Marijne started wondering—‘is it worth it to make it to Netherlands at this juncture?’
Though Netherlands is not among the countries designated as high risk by the Indian government, the havoc the virus is causing in Europe means there is no guarantee the situation will be the same a week on.
“What if air travel is frozen between Europe and India in a week’s time? The situation in Netherlands is changing rapidly, the number of cases there are more, and also deaths caused by the virus, than in India at this moment. Things can go downhill in a week,” a team source told Hindustan Times on Saturday. “What if he is isolated on reaching Netherlands? He may find it difficult to get tickets; he may be put in quarantine for a couple of weeks. There are so many things that can go wrong. Missing the camp for 5-6 weeks was not an option.”
Marijne, who has been with the women’s team since 2018 and has guided it to the Tokyo Olympics, tweeted: “Had to turn around on my way to the airport to go to my family. The risk is too great that I can’t return to India. Hard times for everyone and for me now that I Can’t see my family and I don’t know when this is going to happen.”
A team source said: “He is back in the camp and is keeping to himself but we all know he is very worried about his family. But what to do, there is no other option as he does not want to risk leaving the team in the lurch. He is in touch with his family.”
The team’s analytical coach, Janneke Schopman, too has cancelled a planned trip to USA to complete tax filing.
“She had planned to make a short visit but she was always sure she will make the trip only if things were conducive. She was to travel this week but decided not to take the risk,” said the source.
The men’s camp will continue till the month end before a short break ahead of its planned tour to Germany and UK for FIH Pro League matches.
Among those who attended the Women’s T20 World Cup final was the winner of 38 Grand Slam titles, Billie Jean. Inviting her was a splendid decision taken by ICC, Cricket Australia—and whoever else—because it gave the occasion greater gravitas.
Billie Jean has achieved iconic status, as much for her wondrous tennis achievements as for being an unrelenting activist for gender equality over five decades. She may be 76, but her words carry weight.
She has fought many famous battles to bring women, on and off the court, to the forefront in sport, the best known being the celebrated contest against Bobby Riggs, a former Grand Slammer himself, in 1973.
Riggs was 26 years older but had bragged he could beat