New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): The government is set to appoint renowned Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director (HPD) for Indian Hockey. He will stay in the role till at least the 2016 Rio Olympics.

This is the first time that the Indian government has sought the services of an HPD. Oltmans was hired by Hockey India as HPD in January as part of its plan to further professionalise the sport in the country.

In his extended role, Oltmans will be responsible for ensuring the long term strategy for senior, junior and sub-junior teams. In addition, Oltmans will put in place a professional coaching curriculum.

Oltmans said: “I am happy to strengthen the contacts with India and look forward to work closely together to improve the sport in the country. The past eight months has shown a lot of talented athletes and I am confident that their level will increase by giving them the right support.”

“We made a promising start and hopeful of getting better results in the future events."

Oltmans coached the Dutch team for 14 years.