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 sequence with gamers and coaches from the world’s prime hockey nations collaborating within the “League of the Finest”.
This sequence 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 fervour, preparation, and drive that gasoline the groups vying for glory.
In at present’s interview we converse with Jeroen Delmee, coach of the Netherlands males’s hockey workforce…
How did you put together for the brand new FIH Hockey Professional League season after profitable silver on the European Championship?
We’ve ready like we do for each season. Over the previous interval, the main target has partly been on the membership competitors, whereas we’ve additionally had weekly coaching periods with the nationwide workforce. The largest problem is getting the gamers bodily prepared for the extraordinary Professional League blocks. In Santiago del Estero, for instance, we’re enjoying 4 matches in 5 days in very heat situations. That’s fairly totally different from enjoying one match per week within the cool Dutch local weather.
Final yr you received the FIH Hockey Professional League. How do you price your possibilities for this season?
I’d say our likelihood is about the identical as final yr. The extent on the prime 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 the 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? If that’s the case, what’s totally different in your workforce?
Not likely. In fact, it might be nice to safe that ticket to the LA Olympics as early as attainable. However the Professional League can be a necessary a part of our preparation for subsequent yr’s World Cup. We nonetheless wish to use the Professional League to additional develop younger gamers and provides them worldwide expertise. It’s merely not attainable to play each match with the identical lineup, given how difficult the schedule is. But when we’re in place in the direction of the top of the season, there’s an actual likelihood we’ll shift our focus barely extra in the direction of outcomes than improvement.
What does the FIH Hockey Professional League imply to you?
The Professional League is a improbable match with nice matches. It’s an necessary a part of our preparation for main worldwide championships. It permits us to measure ourselves in opposition to the world’s finest groups, to present newcomers a style of worldwide hockey and priceless expertise, and naturally, it’s a fantastic title to win. Having the ability to name your self the very best on the planet 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 conversant in worldwide hockey. It’s fully totally 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 priceless to journey with the workforce. Happening journeys collectively to locations like Australia, Argentina, or India is of immense worth. And while you get to play in entrance of packed stadiums… that’s precisely what gamers and coaches reside for.
