German coach on a mission

Valentin Altenburg is a coach who has donned a handful of roles over the past few years. The 35-year-old was the chief coach of Germany’s junior men’s hockey team when he was asked to take over the senior team that was preparing for the Rio Olympics late last year.

 Though his journey started on a sorry note with the then Olympic champions bowing out in the semifinals of the Hockey World League finals, Altenburg’s side did put up a good show en route to the bronze medal at the Rio Games.

Now he is back with junior team once again. At the Junior World Cup, starting here on Thursday, Altenburg hopes that his time with the senior side will come in handy.

“It was a busy year but an exciting one,” he said speaking ahead of his side’s final practice game at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

“It’s a difficult task to come into a team that you don’t really know. The level of hockey is different, you have to keep a tab on different key players from the other teams and the tactics are different. I think it helped me evolve as a coach too. And I hope that I can use a little bit of that experience with the junior team.”

Blank slate
Having been in charge of the both the senior and the junior sides in the past, Altenburg knows the difference in managing the two sides. While he thinks the seniors are a bit hard-wired in their ways, the junior side is a blank slate.

“If you want to change something in the senior team, it’s difficult because they’ve been doing certain things in certain ways. It’s their way of doing stuff and they’ve been successful in that way. It’s about the experience they’ve as a team in being successful. But with the junior team it’s easy because they come in with a blank sheet and look up to the coach for everything,” he explained.

Indian connection
Altenburg has been a regular visitor to India over the past few years. He was in charge of the Mumbai outfit in the Hockey India League before he took over the German side in 2015. And the German wants to use that experience as he prepares his side for another title defence.

“Hockey in India is a little different from what it is in Germany. People here are very emotional and very passionate. It’s not just the players, but even the crowd gets involved. Germany is a little more quiet.”

 “That’s something I have been telling the players too. I want them to enjoy playing in front of a crowd that is deeply involved in the game, and hopefully we can be good,” he stated.