For an entire decade – from 2015 to 2025 – coach Julian Steen (33) remained honky-tonk at Groningen Ladies 1. When he decided to spread his wings this summer, he did not opt for a club in the Randstad, but immediately for an adventure on the other side of the world: Jamshedpur, India. There he found a job at the field hockey academy of steel giant Tata Steel. In a place little like what he knew. “I wanted to step out of my comfort zone.
The furthest away game Steen played last season with Groningen in the Promotion League was against Breda, a brisk drive of nearly three hours. Now, via a WhatsApp connection, he recounts a recent trip by one of his youth teams at the field hockey academy. On their way to a tournament, the players and staff members boarded the train for a journey Steen has never faced even from Groningen: a trip of a whopping 38 hours. Welcome to India.
Four weeks ago, on July 1, his adventure in the chaotic but hockey-mad country began. Barely landed at the airport in Kolkata, the city that until 2001 went through life as Calcutta, a crash course in India awaited him right at the train station. Howrah, the station where he was to take the train to Jamshedpur, turned out to be the busiest train station in all of India. With one and a half million passengers a day.
I was looking for adventure… Well, I got that even before I boarded the train at all. Julian Steen
Amid a crowd of hurried Indians, he had to make his way to one of the 25 tracks, hoping his train to Jamshedpur was waiting there. ‘Everything was signposted in Hindi. I had no idea where to go. Fortunately, I could turn to the station manager, who pointed me in the right direction with his hands and feet. Once on the right platform the next challenge awaited me: which compartment should I actually sit in with my ticket reserved online? No idea. Fortunately, an employee stood there as well, gesturing me to where I should be. And all among hundreds of boarding Indians.
‘Fortunately there was no one on the roof of the train, I was spared that image from the videos. But the general class, for which you can’t make reservations, was nearly bursting at the seams. I was looking for adventure…well, I got that before I even got on the train at all.
Julian Steen is ‘chief coach’ at the Naval Tata Hockey Academy in India. Photo: Naval Tata Hockey Academy
From his bubble in Groningen to chaotic India
His choice of India is the biggest leap in his life he ever took, he says. For his studies, he moved from his hometown of Castricum, in North Holland, to Groningen. This did not turn out to be a harbinger of a further journey of discovery through the Netherlands. Instead, in Groningen he led a life that was solid as a house. He quit field hockey and threw himself entirely into his coaching career. Within two years he managed to work his way up to assistant of Ladies 1 in record time. Three years later, when he was only 27, he was ready to take over from head coach Marc Materek.
How does someone who has lived comfortably in his Groningen bubble for ten years suddenly end up at Tata Steel’s field hockey academy, deep in eastern India? ‘I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. An adventure abroad, that seemed like the right thing to do. At first I was looking mainly at Germany. I was already talking to a few clubs there. But then suddenly this came my way,’ says Steen, pronouncing ‘this’ as if he can hardly believe it himself.
The field of the Naval Tata Hockey Academy in India. Photo: Naval Tata Hockey Academy
Via Sjoerd Marijne he ended up at the Tata Steel field hockey academy.
Steen: ‘It was Sjoerd Woelders – last season coach of Schaerweijde – who put me on the trail of the vacancy. He worked at the academy himself. Through him I came into contact with Sjoerd Marijne, the former national coach of the Indian women. Together with Raoul Ehren, Marijne runs the company OnFire Hockey Support, which is responsible for the technical support of the academy. When I spoke to him by phone and he offered me the job, I said I wanted to think about it for another weekend. But to be honest, I was already out when I hung up.’
‘Naval Tata Hockey Academy’ is the name of the academy Steen is now sinking his teeth into. A field hockey academy is a phenomenon that does not exist in the Netherlands. In India, large companies such as Tata Steel, which has a giant factory in Jamshedpur, are required by law to invest a percentage of their profits in social projects. The field hockey academy is one of those social projects of Tata Steel. On the east side of the city, the steel producer has built an entire campus out of the ground, complete with two gleaming water fields, a residential block, a gym, a dining hall, a massage room and all the trimmings. It is the “Papendal” of field hockey players in Jamshedpur.
Julian Steen assists with training. Photo: Naval Tata Hockey Academy
For these boys, it is a springboard to a better life. It is their chance to escape poverty and make something of their lives. Julian Steen
Talents from the region are carefully selected and receive a thorough education at the academy. Together they train and live on campus. They are boys who dream of a better life than what the harsh reality of Jamshedpur offers them now. Poverty marks the streets there.
Steen: “Hockey here means so much more than a sport. For these boys, it is a springboard to a better life. By proving themselves in field hockey, they can be included in the corporate team of a major employer. That means they can get on the payroll and build a future for themselves and their families. It’s their chance to escape poverty and make something of their lives.
‘Chief coach’ is the name of his position, according to the academy’s website. In the Netherlands, we would describe it as technical director, he clarifies. What exactly does he do?
‘I am responsible for the development of both coaches and players. I try not to sit behind my desk all day, but rather to be on the field as much as possible. I try to offer the coaches as much support as possible on the field. The contact with the youngest group of talents, the 13- to 16-year-olds, is sometimes still a bit difficult, because they only speak limited English. But fortunately, the players in the older categories often already master the language. As do their coaches. The intention is that I will also travel with them to tournaments all over India.’
The campus at the Naval Tata Hockey Academy. Photo: Naval Tata Hockey Academy
Everything is arranged; in fact, he doesn’t even have to leave campus
Life on campus is almost at odds with his existence in Groningen. His living space is not much bigger than a hotel room. The interior is limited to two closets, a desk, a refrigerator, a few chairs and a bed. At 6 a.m., the first training starts before the heat sets in. But he doesn’t complain at all. Everything has been arranged for him down to the last detail. A cleaner comes by every day. In the evening he sits down to dinner. In fact, when he’s not at a tournament with the selections, he doesn’t even have to leave campus.
Yes, life in Jamshedpur may suit him. ‘I have a one-year contract. In about five months, I will start thinking about how I like it and what I want here. Then I will have a better idea of what life here really entails. But for now everything is still new and great fun. I am thoroughly enjoying it. This is the challenge I was looking for.
