Kennismaken met Grant Thomson
Grant Thomson is technisch manager voor de jeugd bij MHC Weesp. Hij komt uit Schotland, daarom is het interview om hem beter te leren kennen in het Engels.
Where are you from?
I’m From East Kilbride which is just outside Glasgow in Scotland.
And what brought
you to the Netherlands?
Hockey brought me here, always wanted to be in the Netherlands working within
the hockey community.
Do you live in
Weesp?
No, it’s too expensive haha! I live in Nijmegen but soon to be Arnhem.
How do you travel to Weesp?
Always by Train,
it’s relaxing.
What’s your
experience in hockey?
I played hockey from 7 to 25 and when I moved here I started as a coach and now
it’s been 10 years in the Netherlands working as a fulltime coach and technical
manager.
I heard something
about you organizing camps in the US?
Yes, my business runs
camps in the USA and I take other European coaches with me to perform these
camps (more info: www.thomsonhockey.com).
Do you still play hockey?
Sadlynot, I don’t have the time and my knees are not the same as they where.
What do you think
of our club, MHC Weesp? Any potential in the teams for the national teams😉?
There is some potential in the D line so you never know.
What’s your
observation after almost one season at our club?
There is a lot of
work to be done, but I can already see steady progress and we will keep moving
forward.
Why do you think
that?
When I arrived in the summer we just had changed in the board and technical
staff so it takes time to get things running smoothly.
What can we do
about it?
I think we’re already doing it, we’re changing a lot behind the scenes to give
the players and technical staff the best place possible to learn and
develop.
What do we really
need at our club?
At this time I would say some more experience within the training staff, but
with time comes experience.
What do you expect
of the parents from the youth teams?
I think the biggest thing is continued support and patience that we are doing
the best we can.
What are your
goals for this and next season with MHC Weesp?
To have a more complete technical staff, a dedicated goal keeper coach for all
keepers and to see more members join the club, and to have more teams winning
games and having fun.
When are you proud
at the end of this season?
I’ll be proud when I see more teams having fun and winning games and that the
promises I made about selection proceed working and being delivered smoothly.
What do you want
to ask or say to the youth teams?
Keep working hard and making the effort to get to training and games and trust
the process we have.
How’s your Dutch
by the way?
Niet so goed.
What do you miss
the most from Scotland?
Family and friends and going to see the Glasgow Rangers play.