‘Team needs motivation to win’: Alam

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey coach Michel van den Heuvel will start training the national squad with motivational and physical exercises from today as the team prepares for the upcoming Commonwealth Games with a camp in Abbottabad, according to assistant coach Ahmed Alam.

“Heuvel wants to focus on motivating the senior players of the team,” Alam told The Express Tribune. “Besides physical fitness, the biggest challenge for us is to motivate the team including the seniors. It is a golden chance for them to prove themselves by doing well in the Commonwealth and the Asian Games.”

Alam said that since the players have not won a major trophy for a long time, their confidence needs to be lifted which will be done through the motivational sessions with Heuvel. The Dutch shared the plan with the squad for the second European tour that begins in September.

“We’ve confirmed our matches against Belgium, Poland and three different Dutch clubs, so it’s going to be really competitive three weeks before the CMW Games.”

Alam added that it was part of the Federation’s plan to start the camp from August 12 and ask Heuvel to join four days later, so that proper arrangements could be made before he arrived to the camp.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2010.