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News for 16 May 2020

All the news for Saturday 16 May 2020


Players praise Hockey India''s online coaching course, say it was insightful

National senior team players on Saturday said that Hockey India''s ''Basic'' level coaching course provided a lot of perspective about the game which will help them in making better decisions on the field.

A total of 32 senior men and 23 women core probables, currently stationed at the Sports Authority of India Centre here, took the online course.

The course was a part of a meticulously-designed coaching programme, known as the ''Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway'' which was launched last year with the aim of providing a simplified education structure that helps in the development of coaches.

The core probables got 36 hours to review their online sessions, and then clear an online assessment examination which was based on the latest FIH rules and regulations.

The online assessment examination for men and women was held on May 11 and 15 respectively.

Men''s team midfielder Hardik Singh said learning all the rules and regulations will help him make better decisions.

"Hockey is a very fast sport. Many things happen in a matter of seconds and sometimes we don''t have much time to make good decisions," he said.

"Learning about all the rules and regulations through the coaching course will really help me to take the ball forward swiftly and be aware of when we should go for video referrals during matches," said the 21-year-old.

Forward Ramandeep said he was glad to learn about the history of the game.

"I really enjoyed the course. I have been playing for a long time, but I didn''t know so much about the history of the game. Hockey has been a very important sport for the citizens of India and it was surely important for us to learn about how the sport was invented and the gradual spread of the sport in the world."

"Learning the history of the game has helped me add context to the sport and I think this experience will help us become better players," he added.

Women''s team goalkeeper Savita said learning about the dimensions of the field would help her communicate better with the defenders.

"Being a goalkeeper, I think it''s very important for me to know about the dimensions of the hockey field," she said.

"If I know the dimensions of the pitch well, then I can ensure that our defenders are standing at the right positions and it will certainly improve the way we communicate on the field."

Forward Sharmila Devi added that the course will make a big difference in the way she plays the sport going forward.

"The coaching course was really insightful and informative. Given that I am still finding my way in international hockey, it''s great that I could look at the sport through the coaching staff''s eyes and also brush up on the rules and regulations of the sport.

"With more theoretical knowledge of the sport, I think all of us will have a much better understanding of hockey once we get back on the pitch," said the 18-year-old.

Outlook India



MHC won't reveal national women's coach candidates

By Jugjet Singh


File Photo: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) have interviewed all 11 local candidates vying for the vacant national women's coaching job. - NSTP/ HAFIZ SOHAIMI

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) have interviewed all 11 local candidates vying for the vacant national women's coaching job.

However, the MHC declined to reveal their identities as some are serving the association in different capacities.

"Yes, we have interviewed all 11 local coaches for the position of national women's coach.

"All have attended the interview session, which lasted over four hours," said MHC men's deputy president Jadadish Chandra, also the interview committee chairman.

However, the 12 foreign coaches, who also applied for the same position, have yet to be interviewed, as Jadadish had recommended to the MHC to put them on hold due to the Covid-19 situation.

Some of the foreign candidates are preparing their teams for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

The other members of the interview committee are MHC women's deputy president Datuk S. Shamala and former national captain Datuk Seri S. Shanmuganathan.

The national women's coaching position became vacant after K. Dharmaraj did not reapply for his position after his contract expired.

MHC had conducted a rehiring exercise for all their coaches after their contracts ended on Dec 31, 2019, except for Dutchman Roelant Oltmans.

Oltmans was an exception as his contract runs until October 2020.

New Straits Times



‘More female coaches’: Hockey on a mission to change gender imbalance

By Sophie Penney


Leading the way: Holland coach Alyson Annan is one of few elite women’s coaches

There is big room for improvement in the percentage of women in high performance coaching, leadership roles and umpiring in hockey, according to the president of the European Hockey Federation (EHF).

In a sport where England Hockey reports a 50/50 gender split in participation and nearly all major tournaments run concurrently for men and women, a lot of work is being done to achieve equal male and female representation off the pitch, led by Marijke Fleuren who is also chair of the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) Women in Sport committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Women in Sport commission.

Equality would have been at the forefront of the hockey agenda this April at the EuroHockey League (EHL), the equivalent of football’s Champions League, which has been put ‘on hold’ and will include women’s clubs for the first time. When it does reconvene, the women will play at the same venue as the men, with equal prize money and equal broadcast coverage. This is part of the EHF’s new Gender Balance charter, Equally Amazing, which all of their 43 national associations have signed up to in order to improve gender representation across the board in areas such as leadership roles, umpiring and coaching.

“The participants on the pitch are nearly equal, so it’s not logical that off the pitch the numbers are really different,” said Fleuren. “We are all very sure that the main thing we have to work on is female coaches. Even in Europe it’s awful. At the top level I think the percentages are 90 per cent men and 10 per cent women.”

Kate Porter coaches at two secondary schools in Marlow and for Bucks county. It took her 10 years to get the head coach role she wanted. Along the way she was told her coaching style was too aggressive.


Kate Porter was told her coaching style was too aggressive

“I did my level three coaching and I saw men on the course walking into these head coach roles, and I thought ‘actually I’m as good as they are, why am I not getting these jobs?’,”said Porter. “It wasn’t until about another five years after that it did dawn on me that it was sexism. I did a lot of reflecting and I realised that because of being female what I say comes across as the wrong thing to say, because women aren’t supposed to shout, so then they come across as aggressive.

“Sometimes male assistant coaches that I was with were assumed to be the lead coach. People would come up and start talking to the male and I would say, ‘Hello, you want to be talking to me’. I’ve had the odd, ‘you alright with that love’, if I’m getting heated about something on the sideline. Or when you’re out in the summer – ‘Oh didn’t know you had nice legs’. That was a bit creepy.”

Porter says she has seen more opportunities opening up for women in the past five years and is keen to spend her time changing the environment rather than whinging. Steph Brennan has come up the ranks more recently. At 26 she is already head of hockey at Royal Russell school and coaches at the Tunbridge Performance Centre. “It’s definitely male dominated but it doesn’t bother me in my coaching,” she said. “I do wonder why it is though and what can be done to solve it.”

Steph is certain that female role models are key. “I had a really inspirational PE teacher who was a female and obviously really sporty. And that has stuck with me as I’ve gone through. For me, in the roles that I have now, the biggest thing that I can do is be a really positive role model for females in their formative years.”

Lucy Moore has been a coach developer for GB hockey for almost 10 years and also works at Sport England, looking into the female coaching situation across all sports. She says the problem is not as simple as people might think: “It’s not just a case of women just not being given the jobs, it’s such a complex issue. Some women do not see those talent environments as something for them and we need to find out why.

“Also, there’s a bit of an assumption that needs to be unpicked that people start coaching grass roots and as they get better they want to start coaching better performers. That isn’t necessarily true. Why can’t they be very good at the level they want to be at and develop horizontally?”

The gender imbalance extends into leadership roles. Across the national associations of the EHF there are six female and 35 male presidents. To try to improve the situation the EHF is a member of the SWinG (Sports Women in Achieving their Goals) initiative to facilitate and support aspiring women sport leaders and has also launched a European Hockey Female Leadership Forum.

In umpiring, Fleuren recognises that “if there is a top women’s team, men are still not eager to umpire, while in the top men’s league, women were dying to umpire”. To try to combat this, the FIH had the first mixed gender umpiring pairing for the New Zealand v Belgium men and women’s games in February.

But the changes take time. When the new EHL women was announced former England captain and Olympic gold-medalist Kate Richardson-Walsh tweeted, “It’s taken 12 years to catch up with the men and finally we can show we’re #equallyamazing”.

Asked why it took so long to have an equal women’s league Fleuren replied, “In 2010 my board tried to include women but it was a hurdle for the women to commit to a three stage tournament as opposed to a one-off tournament. The moment came now as we had to change the format because of the FIH calendar.”

Tom Pedersen-Smith, Development and Education Manager at EHF, says solutions have to be carefully designed to be country specific. “One of the key things for us is being aware of the cultural and historical differences bespoke to each region and each nation. They all have individual differences as to why there is an imbalance at certain levels. It’s not just female gender balance, in some regions and some nations there are also gaps to fill in terms of boys playing hockey or boys coaching hockey.”

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The Hockey Paper



KHU considering using pools, one-leg matches in season

By AGNES MAKHANDIA


Butali Sugar Warriors hockey team captain Kennedy Nyongesa (centre) leads teammates in celebrating winning Kenya Hockey Union men Premier League trophy on December 1, 2019 at City Park Stadium. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) is considering adapting either a one-leg format or pools system to finish the local season once coronavirus pandemic has been contained.

KHU’s 2020 season, which was to run on home and away format, had begun in February with matches being played in all the other leagues (women’s premier, super leagues (men and women), as well as the national (men and women).

However, the men’s premier league matches had not started when coronavirus pandemic struck.

KHU Secretary-General Wycliffe Ongori on Friday said if adopted by the stakeholders, the proposals would ensure the league runs in the stipulated period.

"Those are the options we are looking at. However, we will meet team managers to think through all of them, and to settle on one which suits both parties.

The bottom line is that we are behind the schedule and we have to cover up for the lost time and those options will help us achieve that," said Ongori.

"We have played in these formats before and it's not something new to the teams."

In 2016, the men's Premier and National league matches were played in pools.

The KHU seasons starts at the end of February and ends in early December annually.

Meanwhile, Dutch Flower Group (DFG) Wolverines team which made its debut in the women's KHU Premier League is keen to keep its place in the top-tier league.

Wolverines, alongside Oranje Leonas, earned promotion to women’s top-tier league after finishing in the top two positions in the Super League last season.
DFG coach Gordon Oduor has said they have a formidable squad that will give opponents a run for their money.

"We have targets that we have set as a team. Having played to a barren draw against established and experienced sides like Strathmore University in our first match , we have a clear indication of where we ought to be when the season comes to a conclusion," said Odwuor.

"A podium finish will not be far-fetched."

Daily Nation



After being stranded in U.S., Ashok Diwan returns to India

Diwan returned to Delhi in the morning on Friday and will undergo a 14-day quarantine at a hotel in the city.

India’s World Cup-winning hockey goalkeeper Ashok Diwan, who was stuck in the United States due to the travel ban imposed for containing the spread of coronavirus pandemic, returned to the country on Friday.

With his health deteriorating, the 65-year-old Diwan had made a distress call to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra last month, requesting him to take his plea to the higher authorities. The Sports Ministry had forwarded his request to the Ministry of External Affairs.

“I returned to Delhi this morning and right now I am undergoing the 14-day mandatory quarantine period at a hotel in Dwarka. Health-wise I had a few tough days and it feels great to return to my own country,” Diwan told PTI.

The spike in COVID-19 pandemic cases across the globe has forced the countries to enforce lockdown in their territories. “During this time of distress, senior players, colleagues, hockey lovers and friends kept me motivated. I am now doing O.K. health wise and improving,” Diwan said.

Help and support

The 1975 World Cup-winning former player thanked Batra, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and the Indian mission in the U.S. for their help and cooperation during the difficult times. “I am indebted to Mr. Batra , Hon’ble Sports Minister, the External Affairs Minister Indian Ambassador in U.S. Taranjit Sandhu and Indian embassy officials and the media for all the help and support,” Diwan said.

“The love and support I got from my countrymen kept me going in the foreign land.”

Diwan, a member of the 1976 Olympic team, travelled to Sacramento in December 12 last year to spend time with his son, who works there. He was scheduled to head back to India on April 20 but could not due to the travel restrictions.

Sportstar

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