Thursday, February 13, 2025

Hockey India League diary: Lucky parents and six sixes link

The Hockey Paper has taken in the inaugural women’s HIL before travelling to Rourkela for the men’s finale

Lilly lands lakhs with parents watching

Lilly Stoffelsma is not yet a star hockey name but she goes home to Germany a champion with Odisha Warriors – and had her parents here for good measure.

Bouke and Karin Stoffelsma were one of the few foreign families in Ranchi (Jocelyn Bartram’s parents are also in the city) and decided to take a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance to visit India with little women’s hockey played here.

“We had one week touring India and one week hockey, hockey, hockey,” says Bouke, who has been to Spain, Chile and indoors in Turkey watching her 22-year-old daughter with Germany’s juniors.

“The set up here is so amazing. They have set it up from zero, it is so popular and broadcast widely. When I compare it to Germany where it is hard to find 5,000 supporters, they are really enthusiastic and cricket and hockey is incredibly great here.”

Stoffelsma, the half Dutch/Germany player snapped up for nearly €8,000 by Janneke Schopman, the new German coach, has played FIH Pro League matches and could now be in line for a EuroHockey call-up this summer. 

Meanwhile, her parents have never played the game. Karin says: “It was a friend at kindergarten who invited her to play when she was three. My first question was ‘where is the ice?’. Now I know what it is for the last 19 years.”

Ranchi-Rourkela-Ranchi

With organisers wanting some women’s games played in Rourkela (and vice versa), teams took the train (or a car was available) to the Steel City. A great travel experience, it also proved a strain, with a full day’s travel either side of match day. The Hockey Paper took the Express train to Rourkela on Monday. The 0655 had its minor delays but a four-hour arrival time proved a win.

The question for HIL chiefs is whether the competition can travel to engage more franchise fans in their home state, although travel costs was a factor in the first edition of HIL from 2013-17.

From sixes to whistle

South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs memorably hit Dutch spinner Daan van Bunge for six sixes in an over at the 2007 World Cup — the first batsman to achieve the feat in international cricket.

Van Bunge is younger brother of Coen, the world-renowned hockey umpire and, when in India, there has to be a cricket link. Hence, Sportstar asked him about it last week. “Well, it’s still a big pain point for us as a family, but luckily, it’s a long time ago. It’s not forgotten yet, but thanks for bringing it up though (laughs),” Coen said.

Coen also played cricket for the Netherlands, but couldn’t quite make the cut to the senior team.

Reiding the lines

Graham Reid has been back in India as head coach of Delhi Pipers. It hasn’t all gone to plan. Bottom of the table, but having lost three on shoot-outs, losing two by a one-goal deficit. Plus they had to find six new foreigners after they pulled out after the auction. Still, Reid is optimistic and is enthused by his current coaching mantra.

“I used to think that Australia and Holland and somewhere in the middle there’s a really good brand of hockey,” he tells ESPN, “but my new philosophy is somewhere in the middle of the three, the triangle between India, Netherlands and Australia. You got the Australian discipline, you got the Dutch flair and then you got the Indian skills and abilities,” he says.

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