Elena Norman follows Janneke Schopman out of the door: India's sports ecosystem remains a tough place for women

First it was Janneke Schopman who resigned from Hockey India, now it is Elena Norman. In a week’s time, the national federation has lost two of its most powerful female members. A sport that many consider as India’s national game due to its rich history and massive success at the grandest stage — the Olympics.

It’s not just their resignations that have come as a shock but also the manner in which they exited the Indian sporting ecosystem.

Days before resigning as India women’s hockey team coach, Schopman highlighted how she felt 'undervalued' by Hockey India officials.

“But for me personally, coming from the Netherlands, having worked in the USA, this country is extremely difficult as a woman, coming from a culture where, yeah, you can have an opinion and it’s valued. It’s really hard,” she had told during a media interaction recently.

Norman, who was the CEO of Hockey India and played a major role in transforming the fortunes of the sport in the country in the last decade and more, had similar sentiments to share after quitting her post.

“It was getting tough to deliver in the fight between two factions. The environment was becoming suffocating. There are two factions in Hockey India. There is (President) Dilip Tirkey and I and there is (Secretary) Bholanath Singh, (Executive Director) Cdr. R K Srivastava and (Treasurer) Sekar J Manoharan. There are guys who want power and then there is (HI President) Dilip (Tirkey) who is a nice guy, only after betterment of Indian hockey,” she told PTI.

Personnel leave, changes are made, but two significant resignations - both by women - is another example of how difficult it is to be a woman in India and hold top positions. And it’s not just about Hockey India.

The protesting women wrestlers have been rebuked and criticised since they took to the streets to agitate against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

They were met with violent scuffle involving Delhi Police outside the new Parliament building.

The issues that forced Schopman and Norman into the corner, and eventually into writing their resignations, may not have been violent, but were damaging nonetheless.

Norman’s massive contribution

One would argue that Schopman deserved to be removed from her position because of India failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics. When she was an analyst, under coach Sjoerd Marijne, India secured their best-ever fourth-place finish at Tokyo Olympics. Schopman’s CV as India coach, however, isn’t as impressive as that of Marijne, but she did manage to win bronze at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Her legacy would be making India play high-intensity hockey and bringing in youngsters into the side, but lack of goals did her in.

Norman, on the other hand, did not face any such problems. She was appointed as Hockey India CEO in 2011 after spending time in India since 2007 with a sports marketing firm. Her appointment came at time when the eight-time gold medal winners had failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

Norman’s tenure under Narinder Batra’s presidentship was start of what has been a renaissance period for Indian hockey, resulting in a bronze for the men’s team at Tokyo Games, the first medal in 41 years.

During this 13 years association, Hockey India became financially stable, Hockey India League (HIL) was launched and revived the landscape of the sport and enhanced quality of play and players. India became the centre of hockey activities by hosting FIH Men’s World Cup in 2018 and 2023 and Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016 and 2021.

The feature of this crucial partnership and successful tenure was professionalism. Sadly, it seems lack of professionalism led to her departure, which isn’t shocking and exists in almost every corner of India’s sporting ecosystem. You just need to look around to see it and the lack of women faces will become apparent.