After being mere participants for years, the Belgium hockey team has come out of it’s shell and become a force to reckon with in the game today. The turnaround has happened due to a complete overhaul of the policy adopted by the country for the sport. Abhishek Purohit tells you more about the change and the reasons for it
They were not considered to be among the top ten hockey playing nations a decade ago. But today, they are at par with the best.The story of Belgium hockey is one of complete transformation that has taken the former minnows to the threshold of a super power status.
In recent years, the success of their national team has amazed one and all. Over the last couple of years, they have achieved a creditable fifth place finish at the london Olympics, ended as runners-up in European championships in 2013 where they pushed the Dutch powerhouse to third position and sprung a major surprise recently by winning the Hockey World league semifinal in Rotterdam where they defeated Australia twice, including in the final.
Hard to imagine now that The Red lions (as they’re known) had failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup held in New Delhi. Four years later, for the WC scheduled in May-June this year, they booked their berth as one of the top two nations. Talk about ascendancy.
Now, many experts, that includes Indian head coach Terry Walsh, have opined that if a country has to develop its hockey, “the Belgian model is an ideal one.”
For any sport to grow, it is important that everyone involved in it should move in a single direction which facilitates a big overhaul of the structure. And, that has been the case with Belgium.
“The difference that the world is noticing today about the Belgium hockey is definitely due to hard work. But, the most important facet is that every department or personnel involved in the game, has performed as one. Our country’s Olympic committee, the hockey federation, the clubs and the top officials of the sport, all came together and so all of them deserve credit. However, I reckon that the mastermind is our Technical Director — Bert Wentink. He brought in colossal changes like building a competitive domestic league and setting up academies,” Werner Thys, a senior hockey correspondent working with a Belgium newspaper, who is covering the ongoing Hockey World league Final here, said.
In 2006, Wentink’s mission, ‘Be Gold’ started with an eye at the 2016 Rio Olympics. His brainchild - two national training centres in Braxgata and Brussels sowed the seeds for a bright future. Five players of those centres were part of the team which lost the U-16 European Championship final to the Dutch. But that gave the group the confidence that their players have the talent and can take on the world’s top teams.
“It’s all about youth. Without it, all you have is one shot (every four years of getting a group together). That’s my most important thing. We know where we want to go, bring someone out and bring someone in from the coaching side, finding new knowledge for the long term. That’s the magic of the system,” Wentink, had said after the decision.
The present Belgium team mostly comprises of members from that U-16 team that won a bronze medal at the 2007 European Championships under the guidance of the then national coach Adam Dixon. The win helped them cross another hurdle - sponsors’ support followed by fan-following. Dixon also helped them qualify for the Beijing Olympics - it was their entry into the world’s biggest event after a gap of 48 years.
As a result of the policies that they have adopted, the average age of the national team is just above 22 but the team is packed with experience. Skipper John-john Dohmen is only 25 but 250 international caps make him a veteran.
“I have been playing for the senior team for the last ten years and I know that in sports, age does not matter. Most important thing is experience and excellence which can be achieved through playing regularly. We have the youngest team in this tournament,” Dohmen, who plays for Waterducks club back at home, told The Pioneer.
“Our league is quite competitive and player participation from other countries, has only helped our cause,”
The team currently playing at the HWl Final and has nine players who have played more than 100 matches.
Moreover, fourteen members of the squad that clinched the HWl semifinal title last year were from those training centres and come the Rio Olympics in 2016, they will attain more maturity.
After suffering from a non-qualification for the 2010 World Cup, Wentink brought in one of the best tactical coaches in the world, Colin Batch, into the Belgian system and the result was a best-ever performance, fifth, for them at the Olympics in 2012.
According to the skipper, another important part of their development is to travel regularly to other nations and sharing their game culture. “Hockey was used to be a family game. Players of the past used to just enjoy but professional approach was missing. We are now professionals.
The Technical Director then adopted the ‘Push for Podium’ mission and that brought in Marc lammers, their present coach, into the thick of things. Results were instant in the form of 2013 European Championships and the HWl semi-final title.
“Hockey is no longer just about skills and dribbling. Players need to work on several other things like physical training, tactics, penalty corners as well. These are the things you work on right from the school level. Our federation has done a good job 10 years ago by making several changes in the structure of hockey in the country and we are reaping the benefits now,” lammers told The Pioneer.
“The players of our junior national team train three days a week with the seniors and another three days with their respective clubs. So they train six times a week at very high levels. That is one of the secrets behind the rise of Belgium hockey,” he added.
A long-term plan, professional approach, modernized training methods, right investment and everyone involved working in a single direction were the reason for the rise and rise of Belgium as a hockey nation. Their U-21 team is the current European champions and it is widely expected that they will continue the success story.