Indian women’s hockey goalkeepers laud special training camp ahead of international tournaments
Indian women’s hockey team’s special goalkeeping camp, conducted by David Williamson under the supervision of Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne, concluded on Saturday at SAI, Bengaluru.
The 11-day camp, supported by Anandana — the Coca-Cola India Foundation — ran from 22 April, enabling focused, high-performance training.
Williamson is a highly experienced field hockey coach and former player from Northern Ireland. He is a renowned goalkeeping specialist who has worked extensively with the US women’s national team.
Senior goalkeepers Savita, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Bansari Solanki, and Madhuri Kindo attended the sessions, allowing them to focus extensively on technical basics, decision-making, defensive organisation, and tactical awareness in match situations as the team prepares for major tournaments in the upcoming international calendar.
Indian women’s team will be competing in FIH Nations Cup in June, World Cup in August and Asian Games in September-October.
Speaking on the benefits of these kinds of focused camps for goalkeepers, Savita said, “Being a goalkeeper, I’ve always experienced that these kinds of camps help you learn a lot, while polishing and improving your skills. We recreate match-like situations in training and have plenty of discussions. That level of attention to detail in the camp helps us feel more comfortable when we face similar situations during matches.”
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Savita also shed light on how she embraces the role of being a senior while mentoring the younger goalkeepers. “Being a senior player, I have to ensure that I don’t only focus on my own performance but also pay attention to the younger keepers and motivate them.”
“I’m always looking at how they’re doing and how I can guide them in little details, based on my experience. I’m always trying to keep a good environment because I believe that when you’re training in the right kind of environment, you want to do well. So, it’s about keeping everyone motivated and pushing them to do even better. Sometimes, we were really tired at the end of these sessions but overcoming that is part of the mindset as we try to make the most of these camps,” she added.
Bichu Devi, who has already earned 60 senior caps for India, also spoke about the importance of such camps. She said, “This camp was very important for us as we look to prepare for major upcoming tournaments this year. We’ve focused on improving our fitness, while also ensuring that our defensive structure on the field remains solid in match situations.”
Elaborating on some of her key learnings from the camp, Bichu Devi added, “Throughout the camp, there was focus on the defensive side of things. It’s not only about the structure and shape at the back, but also about ensuring communication. The attention to details helps improve performances as a goalkeeper.”
Meanwhile, Solanki, who has also made four appearances for the Indian senior side so far, was thrilled with the experience and nature of such camps. She stated, “The key learnings for me throughout the camp would be decision making under pressure, guiding and organising the defence, and staying as calm as possible while on field. Staying in control of these things allows a goalkeeper to bring more consistency.”
Also sharing an insight into how Williamson and Marijne approached the camp, Solanki mentioned, “We had good goalkeeper sessions in this camp with David. We worked on making our basics stronger and highlighted some minor adjustments which can help us make big differences in our game. Meanwhile, with Sjoerd sir, we worked more on the tactical side of things – our skills, set pieces, and defensive work on penalty corners. His sessions were more focused on understanding the different situations of the game and organising the defence accordingly.”
Published on May 04, 2026