Maurits doesn’t want to think of an Indian job

Spanish hockey team coach Maurits Hendriks, is currently associated with the PHL as the technical adviser. His guidance has helped introduce several novel concepts in the league. But asked if he would be interested in taking up the national coaching job if the offer came, he said no. “I have my hands full as PHL adviser and being the coach of the Spanish team. I am not even thinking about getting an offer from India. It is certainly not on my agenda for now at least,” the FIH master coach said.

Maurits has been instrumental in making Spain a force to reckon with in the international arena. His biggest success was in December 2004 when Spain won their first Champions Trophy and even in Chennai last month, Spain finished third.

A former Holland player, he has helped bring in many changes in the game, which have been witnessed in both the first and second editions of PHL, including diving the match into four quarters, having a third umpire and stopping players from hitting directly into the striking circle from inside the 25-yard line.

“Changes are always good. Some of the changes will also brought up before the Federation Internationale de Hockey for discussion by next year. If all goes well there may be some changes in the international matches too,” remarked Hendriks.

Hendriks said the PHL concept is growing and is open to more changes in the coming years. “Of course the start has been good, though we can’t succeed overnight. We need look into six-seven areas to improve PHL further. First of all we need more feedback from players. Then we can even have more sides in Tier I, which means more players in the event.”

Hendriks also said the coaches working with PHL teams should be given more time to spend with the players to help them know their sides better. The duration of the league could also be increased just as it is in the European countries like Holland, Gremany and Spain.

He is also of the view that the standards of PHL could rise further. “There is room for improvement. With more technical and human inputs, PHL can well be a good platform for young and talented players. We can also see more money being given to players,” he said.