India women’s hockey team goalkeepers attend special camp under Ireland’s Williamson

Supported by Anandana, The Coca-Cola India Foundation, an 11-day intensive camp concluded on May 3, providing specialized, high-performance training for goalkeepers.

Bengaluru: The Indian women’s hockey team custodians Savita, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Bansari Solanki and Madhuri Kindo attended a special goalkeeping camp conducted by Ireland’s David Williamson under the supervision of chief coach Sjoerd Marijne, that concluded on May 2 at the SAI centre here.

Supported by Anandana, the Coca-Cola India Foundation, the 11-day camp ran from April 22, enabling focused and high-performance training for the goalkeepers.

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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, Bansari, and Madhuri 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.

Speaking on the benefits of such 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. So, these specialised camps are always important.”

Sharing her experience at the camp, Savita also shed light on how she embraced the role of mentoring 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 and motivate the younger keepers. I’m always looking at how they’re doing and how I can guide them in little details, based on my experience,” she said.