1 week ago
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India officially appointed decorated Frenchman Frederic Soyez arsenic the main manager of the nationalist inferior men's hockey team, replacing two-time Olympic medallist PR Sreejesh.
Sreejesh, a erstwhile prima goalkeeper, was removed from his role conscionable aft 17 months pursuing the expiry of his declaration aft guiding India to a bronze medal-finish astatine past year's FIH Junior World Cup successful Chennai and Madurai.
In a strongly-worded societal media post, Sreejesh vented retired his frustration, saying his tenure was brought to an extremity contempt winning 5 medals successful arsenic galore tournaments during his stint, but Hockey India argued that the determination was taken considering semipermanent imaginativeness of gathering a sustainable high-performance ecosystem aligned with India's ambitions for hosting the 2036 Olympic Games.
It's seems similar My coaching vocation comes to an extremity aft 1.5 years, during which we played 5 tournaments and secured 5 podium finishes, including a Junior World Cup bronze medal.
I person heard astir coaches getting fired aft atrocious performances.
But this is the archetypal clip I am…
One of the astir accomplished coaches successful European hockey, Soyez brings implicit 3 decades of elite coaching experience, including 15 years arsenic an planetary subordinate for France and implicit 15 years arsenic a caput manager astatine the highest level.
Soyez, who enjoyed an illustrious playing vocation with France from 1995 to 2010, earning 196 planetary caps and scoring an awesome 195 goals for the team, coached the nationalist men's hockey teams of some France and Spain.
He has coaching acquisition astatine 3 Olympic Games, having guided Spain astatine the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics earlier starring France astatine the Paris 2024 Olympics.
During his tenure with Spain, helium guided the squad to a metallic medal astatine the 2019 European Championships, portion besides steering them to quarterfinal finishes astatine the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
A proven developer of young talent, Soyez coached France to a historical metallic medal astatine the FIH Junior Men's World Cup successful Delhi successful 2013 and astir precocious guided the French U-18 men's squad to a metallic medal astatine the 2025 European Championships.
He additionally served arsenic the High-Performance Director of the French Hockey Federation from 2021 to 2024, overseeing the country's broader high-performance and jock improvement structure.
His coaching resume besides includes information successful 2 FIH Men's Hockey World Cups (2018, 2023) and six European Championships (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), underlining his extended acquisition astatine the elite planetary level.
At the home level, Soyez guided Lille MHC to French Indoor and Outdoor Championship titles successful 2012, on with EuroHockey Trophy Indoor and Outdoor titles successful the aforesaid year.
Widely regarded for his expertise successful high-performance systems, jock development, and punishment country strategy, Soyez has consistently built teams with beardown tactical operation and competitory consistency crossed each levels.
Hockey India's semipermanent strategy besides places important accent connected processing Indian coaches alongside planetary experts.
To guarantee cognition transportation and continuity, Indian coaches person been integrated crossed the senior, junior, and sub-junior nationalist camps, with designated Indian coaches moving intimately alongside the respective caput coaches astatine each level.
Welcoming Soyez to Indian hockey, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said, "We warmly invited Frederic Soyez to the Hockey India family. Frederic comes with outstanding planetary credentials, having coached astatine aggregate Olympic Games, World Cups, and European Championships, portion besides successfully processing young endowment and high-performance systems.
"We judge his acquisition and accomplishment acceptable volition greatly payment Indian hockey arsenic we proceed to enactment towards a bigger semipermanent imaginativeness for the 2036 Olympics."
"Our absorption is not lone connected contiguous results but besides connected gathering a heavy endowment excavation and a coaching operation that remains aligned from sub-junior to elder level. By integrating Indian coaches alongside planetary experts successful each nationalist campy crossed each levels, we are ensuring continuity successful coaching philosophy, subordinate development, and tactical understanding.
"This collaborative attack volition besides play a captious relation successful strengthening the capabilities of Indian coaches and creating a much self-sustaining high-performance ecosystem for the future," helium added.
