Asian Champions Trophy: Dutch hockey coach Eric Wonink and his special connection with India

Eric has hit the ground running after being appointed by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu as High-Performance Coach for Hockey on a year’s contract in June

One step at a time: Eric is concentrating on getting the basics right and focussing on the structure in his tenure as SDAT’s High-Performance Hockey coach. | Photo Credit: K. Keerthivasan

Dutch Eric Wonink has been coaching since he was 17 years of age. His work has taken him to Germany, Croatia, Belgium and India.

However, it was during his term in India as the National junior women’s team coach (2017-23) that Eric found his calling. India is even more special as his wife Neha, also a hockey coach, is from this part of the world.

Eric has hit the ground running after being appointed by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu as High-Performance Coach for Hockey on a year’s contract in June. He has started training SDAT coaches, conducted workshops and implored them to watch the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here.

“There is no better coaching available than watching top teams and top players play here. Coaches learn a lot by analysing the games and that’s how learning is done. The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium is wonderful. SDAT and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu have done an amazing job,” Eric told The Hindu.

The 54-year-old was impressed with SDAT’s mission statement of “making Tamil Nadu the sporting state of the nation.”

He is confident of making Tamil Nadu a strong state in hockey but says that he is not a magician and needs time to build something substantial.

“I am all for development. But it takes a minimum of eight years to make a champion team or a player,” he added.

Getting the basics right

Eric is clear about what he wants from Tamil Nadu.

“To get the structure right with coaches and players, and to get the basics right. And, of course, to get more Tamil Nadu players in the national team,” he said. “My goal, as far as I have understood, is to support hockey in TN.”

Eric first came to India in February 2017 but became a permanent Indian junior women’s coach only in 2019-20, after his predecessor Baljeet Singh Saini quit.

“India has treated me really well. Sports Authority of India, Hockey India and all the support staff who worked with me have been great. I am thankful to them,” he said.

Under his radar, the National junior women’s team had lost a close match with England for the bronze medal in the Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom (South Africa) last year.

“Let’s not talk about it. We played a good tournament, and we have had good progress in the last six years. I don’t think we could have progressed so well without the coaching staff,” he said.

According to the Dutch, what his coaching staff has done with the National junior women’s team has been phenomenal.

“It has been fantastic. There has been a complete change in the players’ mindset, attitude and behaviour. The junior and senior teams have a great future,” he added.