News for 08 December 2020
All the news for Tuesday 8 December 2020
Campo the top seed for Spanish cup weekends
Club de Campo will be the top seeds for both the Copa de la Reina and Copa del Rey next weekend in Valencia following their performances in the opening phase of the Spanish league seasons.
The women are up against CD Sardinero in their quarter-final contest on Friday off the back of an excellent 10 wins from 11 outings so far in the league. They picked up the latest victory with a 3-0 victory over third placed Madrid rivals SPV Complutense courtesy of goals from Begona Garcia, Bea Perez and Candela Zanetti.
It has helped them build a six-point advantage at the head of the table with Junior FC the nearest chasers in the wake of a 3-1 success against CD Terrassa. Fourth quarter goals from Mariona Serrahima and Mariona San Jose Call won the day after Gigi Oliva and Estel Forte had exchanged strikes in the first quarter.
Junior’s first game in the cup will be against Complutense in what is likely to be the pick of the quarter-final contests.
Fourth placed Real Club de Polo are up against CD Terrassa – currently sixth – while Club Egara, fifth, will face seventh ranked UD Taburiente.
In the men’s cup, Atlètic Terrassa’s game with Real Club de Polo is the big meeting of the quarter-finals with third in the league facing fourth. The sides drew 0-0 early in the season to show how little is between the teams.
Both come into the contest off the back of 4-1 successes, Atlèti beating CD Terrassa while Polo were too good for Junior FC, Xavi Lleonart scoring twice.
The winner of that contest will come up against the winner of the Madrid derby with Club de Campo – who lead the league on goal difference – facing fifth place SPV Complutense.
The other half of the draw pits Club Egara against CD Terrassa and Junior FC against FC Barcelona.
Euro Hockey League media release
HC Minsk women start off in style in Belarussian indoor competition
HC Minsk’s women are leading the way after five rounds of the Belarus indoor championship which all took place in the Minsk velodrome over the last weekend.
The event played out with an extra level of media interest compared to usual with two television and radio companies in situ, adding to the excitement levels.
They opened up with a 10-4 win over Textilschik Bargu with Yevheniya Kernoz netting five times. They added a 7-4 success against Ritm Grodno with two goals each from Kernoz and Natallia Shtsin.
They added a 9-0 victory over the HC Minsk second team – with four goals from Olha Kurovska – and then they ran up an 8-0 success against SDYUSHOR.
They closed out this phase with a 5-5 draw against Victoriya Smolevichi. For the second series of the competition, the top four of HC Minsk, Victoriya, Ritm Grodno and Bargu will be separated into a top four group.
HC Minsk will represent their country next Easter at the EHL Women’s FINAL8.
Euro Hockey League media release
Australian Indoor Hockey squads update
Due to the impact of COVID, the Hockey Australia Indoor Advisory Group, under guidance from Hockey Australia, has taken steps to adjust the planning and update the respective squad lists.
Earlier this year the Australian Indoor Hockey Championships scheduled for January 2021 were called off. This was followed by the announcement that the Indoor Hockey World Cup set down for next February would be postponed by 12 months because of the global pandemic.
As such, the following actions have been undertaken:
- All off-field team personnel were contacted and have confirmed they are available to extend in their current roles until after February 2022;
- Australia’s national Indoor Head Coaches, Steve Willer (Men’s Team) and Mark Sandhu (Women’s Team) contacted all squad members (those in the Indoor Hockey World Cup, plus the U21 and U18 squads) who were selected from the National Indoor Festival in 2020 to seek their acceptance or withdrawal from those squads/teams (as the 2021 National Indoor Festival was cancelled, there is no other national event for selection, hence the acceptance/withdrawal approach).
In line with the postponement of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, the selection trials for this tournament, the U21 tour to Europe and the U18 training camp have all been proposed to take place in 2021. Thus, the Selection Policy has been updated to reflect the new process.
From these actions and the responses of players regarding their availability, the Men’s and Women’s selection panels have made the necessary changes to the Indoor squads for 2021. The changes are as follows:
Women’s Squads
Australian Indoor World Cup Squad
Eden Jackat (QLD) replaces Lauren Austin (retired)
Under 21 European Touring Team
Chloe Barrett (NSW) replaces Emma Corcoran
Under 18 Training Camp Squad
Isabella Bozzone (VIC), Rachel Knowles (VIC), Ella Du Preez (WA), Lexie Pickering (NSW) and Lily Neilson (NSW) have withdrawn.
Additions include Sienna Berry (WA), Georgia Needham (WA), Kaelan Read (ACT), Charlotte Ritman (VIC) and Anniston Chappell (QLD) who has been selected as a shadow player.
Men’s Squads
Australian Indoor World Cup Squad
Josh Mayo has withdrawn due to work commitments.
Under 21 European Touring Team
Josh Blakey, William Graf and Samuel Mudford have withdrawn.
Shadow players moved into the selected team are Dominic Cain, Connaigh Whittaker and Kaleb Christensen.
Under 18 Training Camp Squad
Sam James and Connor Tuddenham have withdrawn.
Shadow players moved into the selected squad are Diarmid Chappell, Toby Dreyer and Clayton Evans.
Hockey Australia media release
‘Urgent action is required’: Hockeyroos letters raised alarm about ‘destructive’ culture
Hockey Australia will launch an independent inquiry into allegations of bullying and poor culture within the Hockeyroos camp. Hockey Australia will launch an independent inquiry into allegations of bullying and poor culture within the Hockeyroos camp. CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES
Hockey Australia knew of serious concerns about a “destructive” environment and lack of confidence in non-playing leadership within the Hockeyroos camp as early as 2017, according to letters obtained by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
The letters sent to Hockey Australia outline grave misgivings about Australian hockey’s elite women’s program.
Former players and staff allege HA did not correct that culture when worries were raised about the program in 2017 and 2018. The program remains in turmoil months out from the 2021 Olympics and amid an independent inquiry into alleged poor culture and mismanagement, threats of a player strike and the retirement and dropping of top players.
Key staff from the period when management was alerted to the concerns in the letters remain in charge. HA maintains those figures have the governing body’s support.Advertisement
In response to a series of questions from The Age and Sydney Morning Herald , HA chief executive Matt Favier said claims about the alleged poor culture in the Hockeyroos program would be investigated, but did not address questions about player problems with coaching and support staff, or if HA failed to act on concerns raised in the letters.
“Hockey Australia will launch an independent inquiry into claims and comments that have been made by past players towards the program, as well as provide an opportunity for current players to share their experience,” Favier said.
“The scope of this inquiry will seek to address the claims against the organisation’s culture.”
The inquiry, he said, would also look into allegations of bullying between players.
All three Hockeyroos captains recently stepped down, with Jodie Kenny retiring and Emily Chalker and Georgina Morgan relinquishing their titles. Sources close to the playing group said Chalker and Morgan’s decisions were partly to do with problems they had working with the squad’s non-playing leadership.
Morgan and International Hockey Federation goalkeeper of the year Rachel Lynch were then dropped from the squad in shock announcements. Both have formally appealed their non-selection, the Australian Hockey Players’ Union confirmed.
The squad is currently in Perth and did not train last Tuesday after an emergency meeting following news of Morgan and Lynch being dropped. HA president Melanie Woosnam and the board will address the players this week.
“Our selection panel remain of the view that the group of players who have been selected have the requisite skills, abilities, attitude and commitment to the direction of the high performance program to enable our teams to perform to the highest levels in 2021,” Favier said.
HA announced the independent inquiry in late November, weeks after Favier denied there were major problems within the program.
‘Losing confidence in the ability of the coaching staff’
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have obtained letters from 2017 and 2018 that show coaches, management and the HA board have known about serious unrest within the Hockeyroos camp for years.
The Hockeyroos squad wrote a letter to the board dated May 7, 2018, which detailed “serious concerns regarding the direction of the Hockey Australia women’s program”. Some 12 of the 25 players who signed that letter remain in the most recent Hockeyroos squad.
“As a playing group, we have a number of concerns, which has led to us losing confidence in the ability of the coaching staff and administration to make decisions that promote a culture of excellence and result in future and continued success,” the letter read.
Their five main concerns were: the amount of players who had left the team in that past year, an “unusually” high staff turnover, a disconnect between the players and coaches, a disconnect between players and administrative staff and a “lack of understanding and respect for the players’ perspective, and an unwillingness to address issues raised by the playing group”.
“The above concerns are creating instability and uncertainty amongst the playing group and we believe are directly impacting team performance … urgent action is required to prevent any further degradation in the team’s culture (particularly the relationship between players and coaches).”
Kathryn Slattery says nothing changed after the Hockeyroos sent a letter to the Hockey Australia board. Kathryn Slattery says nothing changed after the Hockeyroos sent a letter to the Hockey Australia board. CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES
The board responded to the May 2018 letter in August, saying they wanted to wait until after the Hockey World Cup. President Melanie Woosnam wrote a detailed response saying HA heard the players’ concerns and would work to improve the Hockeyroos environment.
“I truly hope that you will see and feel that the changes that have been implemented are positive and enable you and your fellow national squad members to achieve success in the future,” Woosnam wrote of the measures, which included engaging with the AIS Athlete Welfare and Engagement program, appointing two new assistant coaches and announcing a review of the high performance model to be implemented post-2020.
Former player Madeleine Ratcliffe, who signed the May 2018 letter as a player, told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald no meaningful change eventuated.
“The board said they would do all these things but a lot of it never came to fruition. A lot of it got kicked down the road, or players were blamed, or it was pushed under the rug,” Ratcliffe said.
Kathryn Slattery, who was part of the leadership group at the time and another who signed the letter, agreed with Ratcliffe.
“Ultimately I felt like it [the letter] was dismissed. It was unprecedented sending that letter and I was shocked nothing changed.
“They’ve known for a long time … the program was hardly high performance.”
Nicole Arrold, a former Hockeyroos player and assistant coach from February to December 2017, wrote a letter to a HA colleague in September that year expressing concern over organisation skills and performance of key people in the program, which she said in addition to other “management issues” were having a “destructive” and “deleterious” impact on the program.
She wrote that she had raised the concerns before.
“The fact that we are planning for training the day before, or on the day of the session, offers further evidence that there is no longer-term plan … I believe we are losing support and faith of players.”
Despite the unrest, the Hockeyroos are ranked No.4 in the world. The Hockeyroos have won three Olympic gold medals (1988, 1996 and 2000) and finished sixth at Rio 2016.
Hockey World News
Hockey Australia President disputes failure to act amid bullying allegations
The Hockeyroos have entered crisis talks with the board of Hockey Australia over culture and bullying allegations reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hockey Australia President Melanie Woosnam offered assurances, telling Jim Wilson she’s feeling “quite optimistic and positive” that the concerns raised will be resolved.
She said an inquiry will be launched in the coming days, but denied the board failed to address allegations when they were raised in 2018.
“We feel we did address that back then with the playing group.
“The whole board met with the playing group to discuss these issues, and … we then responded in a letter with several action items.
“We’ve only been made aware of these current issues through the recent media attention.”
Click here to hear the full interview
2GB AM
Defroand & Howard Confident Success Will Come From Adversity
Jo Hunter Goal GB v Netherlands FIHPL2020
“I think the first game was quite a big shift in our mindset that we can not only compete with the top teams but be one of the best teams in the world.”
These are the words of Tess Howard and they were delivered without hesitation; she meant exactly what she said.
After an enforced break of more than six months, Great Britain’s men and women returned to action against The Netherlands and Belgium in the FIH Hockey Pro League back in October and November.
Despite 10 athletes being unavailable for selection, the women claimed an impressive point against reigning world champions The Dutch in the opening game.
With two players – Sophie Hamilton and Fiona Crackles - making their senior international debut, Mark Hager’s team fought back from conceding after just 90 seconds to secure a 1-1 draw, something Howard said made the squad realise just how far they’ve come over the last few months.
“It was a strange moment when they scored the goal that they scored right at the beginning of the first game. We’d been on top, in their circle, creating pressure and then there’s this freak reverse stick hit that somehow gets through for a one-on-one,” the 21-year-old recalled.
“We were all standing on the pitch like ‘hang on, this isn’t supposed to happen, we’re actually on top’. Maybe in previous games we would have gone ‘here we go again’ but in that moment we all looked at each other and thought ‘they’re not getting back into this game. We’re going to go and find this goal’.
“That’s the spirit and attitude that we had throughout the trip. It was almost like the resilience from lockdown that we weren’t going to give up coming out on the pitch. It felt like we were there for a reason and we played with that mentality.”
Watching from home having been unable to travel due to injury, Emily Defroand never doubted that her team-mates would be able to get something from that match.
Having been part of the centralised programme since 2017, the Commonwealth and European bronze medallist has experienced first-hand the difficulties faced by the whole squad over the last four years.
From a change of head coach to senior players retiring or being unavailable for significant periods, it’s certainly been a challenging time for GB’s women.
That’s why she knows that the draw against the Dutch and subsequent performances against the Belgians – where they claimed five points from a possible six – are just an indicator of what #ThePride can hope to see from the team over the next year.
“Those matches really showed what we’re about as a squad,” the 26-year-old stated.
“With that first goal, for anyone watching the game you may have though ‘oh gosh here we go, it’s going to be one-sided’. But the character and the desire and the perseverance with it all really shone through in that first game and then the other fixtures that came after.
“The new additions to the team for that trip, that really highlighted the strength and depth within the squad and the EDP programme. GB Hockey is in a very good place and those matches over the last month or so signified that, even after the year we’ve had to overcome.”
Great Britain Hockey media release
Dull December 2020 brings nostalgia in Lalit Upadhyay
New Delhi: Hockey players in India are used to hectic activity in the fag end of the year. This has been the routine in the domestic seasons with leading tournaments being held in this period. However, since 2010 India hosted world’s best tournaments too in this spell. These include Men’s World Cup in 2018, FIH Hockey World League Final 2017, FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016, FIH Hockey World League Final 2015, and the FIH Champions Trophy in 2014. Naturally therefore players are nostalgic as they had to sit out, camp out, this year due to COVID-19 disturbances.
Listen to what Lalit Upadhyay had to say on this unexpected vacuum.
“It’s perhaps the first time in many years that we don’t have a tournament around this time of the year in India. Some of us in the National Camp have been quite nostalgic recalling our past matches during this period and were feeling quite emotional about how far we have come on the international stage. We have successively improved performance since the 2014 FIH Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar and have been able to climb up the world rankings.
“It has been six years since that tournament but it still remains very fresh in our memories. Though most of us had played Hockey India League (HIL) matches in the Kalinga Stadium, the FIH Champions Trophy was the first international tournament we were playing there (in Bhubaneswar) and the incredible support by fans was absolutely amazing. It was during this tournament that we got a sense of the passionate spectators there who were not just supporting for India but had turned up full-house for matches between different foreign teams as well. It was a great, fun-filled experience.”
Lalit further highlighted the growth of Indian Men’s Hockey team over the years.
“If I look back at how we played then in 2014 and how we play now as a team, I feel we have come a long way and have grown from strength-to-strength. We don’t choke in tense moments anymore and we have learnt to put up a fight-back if required. Our performance, particularly in the last two years, have been note-worthy, having achieved good success rate against top teams like Belgium, Netherlands and Australia.”
Stick2Hockey.com
Romance of Delhi’s hockey hunting ground Shivaji Stadium
By S.KANNAN
Indian Airlines team of 90s (l-r), Ravinder, Samir Dad, Harendra Singh, MP Singh & Vineet Kumar. Photo: Ashok Vahie
For old timers and romantic relics, winter in Delhi was the season for club hockey. In the decades gone by, when the Nehru Hockey tournaments (junior & senior), Shastri Hockey, and a few more named after even businessmen were held, it attracted great audience.
Shivaji Stadium was the venue for such events, located bang in the heart of New Delhi’s Connaught Place, now renamed Rajiv Chowk! Even those not necessarily hooked to hockey would drop by, watch a few matches, eat moongfalee (peanuts) and walk out.
Their comments after the matches were so frank and forthright. If a goalkeeper fumbled, curses would follow. If a player was selfish up front and a goal chance was missed, fans would again go wild. So much so, that even when former India captain Sardar Pargat Singh, now a leading politician played and launched himself into attack mode, none other Sardar Gian Singh, the doyen of hockey literature, would lose his cool. For Gian Singh, Pargat had to play only defence!
Shivaji Stadium was a venue for sunshine and hockey. Ticket prices were low and affordable. So, when it came to even having tea inside, it did not hurt the pocket. Of course, for journalists who covered the event and notably the final, it was a matter of prestige.
Teams like Indian Airlines, which was virtually half the India side in the late 80s would turn out so smart. Names of Zafar Iqbal, Thoiba Singh, Mohinder Pal Singh would strike you right-away. Those were the days when players had no names scribbled on the back of their shirts. There were just numbers and if you were lucky, you got the team list.
Shivaji Stadium has seen a beehive of activity with committed fan base
But then, for those who watched those legends and even lesser teams like Namdhari XI, playing in all whites, reeling off names was not tough. People identified themselves with teams and players and for sure they had fan following, though not like today when social media floods the space.
There were times when some matches were watched just because it was going to be explosive! Forget stick-check, sticks would become weapons and sights of players bleeding was common when a team like Punjab Police or RCF Kapurthala was on the field. Yes, on-field umpires had a hard job to do and even they were sometimes caught in the fracas. Sadly, the same Shivaji Stadiun now is deserted with the turf in bad shape.
It is sad to see local sport in Delhi lose out to TV and especially hockey in winter. Just as Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital was known for football events like Subroto Cup, Durand and DCM football tournaments, Shivaji Stadium was hockey’s paradise, even though Delhi’s National Stadium had more seating.
This is the year when hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr passed away. Even he was a regular at Shivaji Stadium and he would enthral the media with his wealth of information. More Olympians like RS Gentle, KG Kakkar, Harbinder Singh and the past greats would come and see matches.
Such was the atmosphere, to share the same space with these legends meant a learning experience daily. To be fair, the way the media covered local hockey events in the 80s and early 90s was serious. It was not reporting through mere press releases but watching and writing the real stuff. 
Delhi journalist covering an event of the then Sports Minister Sunil Dutt at the Shivaji Stadium
This generation of writers may not be familiar with sports writers names like KN Mohlajee, whose hockey writing was poetry or Raghunath Rau, who appeared to be sleepy inside the stadium but would churn out superb copies. There was also Gerald Hassu, whose hockey knowledge was no less.
The next generation of writers like Ramu Sharma, KP Mohan, K.Jagannadha Rao and Hindi newspaper hockey writers like Manoj Chaturvedi would also be present.
Shivaji stadium used to be packed for domestic competitions, like HIL
All this seems like a blur these days for many reasons. Local hockey died even before Corona virus struck and coverage of local events by wires and newspapers has become nil.
last major tournament held at the historic stadium, known in the past as Lady Irwin hockey ground, was Hockey India League six years ago.
Walking past the Shivaji Stadium the other day, so many memories came back, first in a trickle, then torrent.
Today, the experts and media can talk of what will happen in the postponed Tokyo Olympics. However, I wish after the pandemic, people will shower love on venues like Shivaji Stadium. It is craving for hockey, it is craving for the past glory. This is where the greats played, not Bhubanesshwar, which hosts most international hockey events now.
And yes, I do hope, people will pray for MP Singh to come out strongly from his renal failure. As a defender, he was so sturdy and played with passion.
Stick2Hockey.com
NRIs to provide kits to hockey players
Announce Rs 5.51 lakh prize for 37th edition of the Surjit Hockey tourney
Renu Verma Rathore, an international player, talks to players. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
NRIs Gakhal Brothers have announced to provide sports kits to all players participating in the ongoing hockey coaching camp run by Surjit Hockey Society from the US.
On the completion of the 74th day of the coaching camp here at Surjit Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar, taking note of the large number of participation of budding players under the age group of 14 and 19 years in the camp, the eminent sports promoter, transporter, hotelier trio — Amolak Singh Gakhal, Iqbal Singh Gakhal and Palwinder Singh Gakhal, respectively, have announced to provide sports kits to all players participating in the camp.
Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar Ghansham Thori, who is also the president of Surjit Hockey Society; secretary Iqbal Singh Sandhu and chief PRO Surinder Singh Bhapa, who is also the director (coaching camp) of the camp, lauded the efforts being made to promote hockey in the state.
Rendering yeoman service
Gakhal brothers, who hail from Gakhal village in Jalandhar district, after noticing the talent of players from their village in the camp, said they have spent Rs2 crore for the development of their native village Gakhal last year, and now every facility would be provided to players from their village as well. Amolak Singh Gakhal appealed to parents to send their children to this camp to learn hockey as much as possible, so that they can have a better future.
Gakhal brothers, who have been giving away Rs5 lakh to the winning team of the Surjit Hockey Tournament since many years, have also announced a prize of Rs5.51 lakh for the 37th edition of the Surjit Hockey tournament to be held in the end of the February. Gakhal brothers, who hail from Gakhal village in Jalandhar district, after noticing the talent of players from their village in the camp, said they have spent Rs2 crore for the development of their native village Gakhal last year, and now every facility would be provided to players from their village as well.
The great Indian hockey Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi, had also visited the camp as the chief guest recently. Arjuna Awardee Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi is a gold medallist of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Sodhi is known for playing a major role in helping India win a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics after a gap of 16 years. Sodhi had also interacted with players and shared his experiences and taught them some hockey tricks. He said after a long time he had seen more than 100 players under the age of 14 and 19 participating in the 70-day long hockey camp, which was started with just five players. He lauded the initiative of Surjit Hockey Society and also appealed to other clubs, sports bodies to start camps for players under 14 years and under 19 years in their respective villages and cities to gain the lost glory of hockey.
The Tribune
The Hockey Museum given funding for feasibility study into mobile exhibition
By Duncan Mackay
The Hockey Museum has received a £15,000 grant from Arts Council England's Lottery Fund to work on a new mobile project ©The Hockey Museum
A mobile exhibition could be launched by The Hockey Museum in the United Kingdom after it was awarded a £15,000 ($20,000/€16,000) grant from Arts Council England's Lottery Fund to investigate the feasibility of such a plan.
It is hoped that if the idea gets the go-ahead then it will allow the Museum to share the stories and memorabilia from hockey's history more easily with the public.
Tricolor Associates, a Cambridge-based company who specialise in heritage projects, have been commissioned to work on the project, which it is hoped has the potential to engage audiences with hockey heritage on a national and, possibly, even European level.
The Hockey Museum is based in Woking in England and was opened in July 2015.
It is the only museum in the world devoted to hockey, which made its Olympic debut at London 1908 and has appeared in every Games since Amsterdam 1928.
"THM (The Hockey Museum) is grateful to Arts Council England and the National Lottery for their support of the initial planning and feasibility work for a mobile hockey exhibition/experience," The Hockey Museum trustee, Philip Kimberley, who led the grant application, said.
The Hockey Museum, based in Woking in England, hopes to be able to share more of its exhibits with a mobile project ©The Hockey Museum
"We are the custodians of a wonderfully vast array of heritage objects and historical stories, but outside of its exhibitions at major international tournaments, THM has lacked the ability to consistently and impactfully share these with the public.
"This opportunity to ask, listen, learn and get creative with the concept of a mobile facility begins yet another stage of THM's innovative journey."
Tricolour's director Sarah Dowd revealed they are looking forward to helping the Museum with the project.
"Tricolor is delighted to be working with The Hockey Museum to explore new, innovative options for engaging with players, families and fans in the hockey community and beyond," she said.
"The Museum shows real aspiration and a desire to disrupt how sports heritage is made accessible to different audiences, tapping into the heart of what makes sport playing and spectatorship so enjoyable and for some, a lifelong passion."
Inside the Games
Club stalwart and game-changing financial supporter honoured
A former Black Stick who has given 35 years of service to the Southern Districts Hockey Club, and a successful businessman who has provided a game-changing level of financial support across all levels of hockey have both been honoured with Life Membership of New Zealand Hockey.
Sheryl Law and Sir Owen G Glenn were presented their life memberships by Hockey NZ President Pam Elgar and Hockey NZ Chair Mike Bignell on finals day of the Sentinel Homes Premier Hockey League in Hamilton on Sunday.
Sheryl Law
Sheryl has tallied over 40 years of service to hockey. From playing for Auckland in her younger years and for her country from 1979 to 1984, she has achieved a quiet reputation for developing players, many of whom have gone onto national honours. Her two sons Simon and Marcus are long-serving Black Sticks.
Sheryl has been actively involved in the Southern Districts Hockey Club for 35 years alongside her husband Rick, volunteering in coaching, administration and governance roles. She was also involved in Auckland Hockey administration roles, including being Vice President, and was named a life member of the association.
Both Rick and Sheryl were awarded Queen’s Service Medals for Services to Hockey in the 2019 New Year’s honours.
Sir Owen G Glenn
Sir Owen G Glenn has been an active supporter and significant financial backer of hockey in New Zealand for the past decade. His love for hockey began many years earlier as a club player for the Albertians-Mangere Club in Auckland.
After a highly successful business career, Sir Owen re-engaged with hockey in 2011 and has since provided a game-changing level of support across all areas of our sport – from community and development to events and high performance.
Sir Owen is the founding patron and cornerstone donor of the Hockey Foundation, which has given $650,000 in grants since its establishment in 2009 to assist numerous programmes focused on developing coaches and players.
His support has been instrumental in allowing Hockey New Zealand to host several major international events, and at the other end of the spectrum – but of no less importance – he has funded a community programme to bring Small Sticks to South Auckland schools.
Since 2018, Sir Owen has also played a key role in enabling our Vantage Black Sticks players to be paid as semi-professionals and compete year-round while balancing their work commitments.
Hockey is indebted to Sir Owen for his generosity, passion and commitment, and he has been a true friend to our sport.
Hockey New Zealand Media release
Quality Programme pushes ahead despite pandemic
More than 90 participants from around the world joined in the FIH Quality Programme webinar, led by Alastair Cox, the FIH Facilities and Quality Programme Manager.
Among the key messages to emerge from the two-hour presentation was the continued development of, and plans for, Hockey5s; the drive towards pitch options that reduced or removed the need for water; and the importance of continuing to update, review and then implement quality standards across a growing range of equipment and facilities. In other words, the main drivers for Cox and his team is to lead and guide both customers and suppliers towards ever higher levels of sustainability, cost effectiveness and safety awareness.
Just as the audience reflected a global audience, so too does the FIH Quality Programme’s sphere of influence. While the pandemic has reduced the number of products that were approved this year by a third, the spread of certified hockey fields still covers all continents.
While the pandemic might have restricted or halted physical work on facilities and subsequent certification, the FIH Quality Programme has been busy expanding its reach and developing its message.
The Quality Programme now goes beyond quality facilities to include FIH Approved Field Equipment, including: hockey goals, Technical Officials’ booth, team shelters, rebound boards for Hockey5s, indoor hockey sideboards and indoor hockey goals.
The FIH has also worked with Loughborough University to develop categories of hockey balls, with top quality balls, known as Global Category Balls, for international, top tier events; and a National Category Ball for lower level internationals and elite club matches and training.
As with the FIH Approved Hockey Turfs, Approved Field Equipment recognises high quality sports equipment that performs well, is safe to use, has good durability and is produced by quality manufacturers. The existence of such standards provides reassurance to the market place and ensures equipment meets the needs from international to community hockey provision.
Joining Cox for the presentation was FIH Sport and Development Director Jon Wyatt, who started his presentation by acknowledging what a challenging time the global hockey community had been living through.
Because of the stop, start nature of international competition throughout 2020, Wyatt said the next three years would be very busy. The usual four-year Olympic cycle, leading into Paris 2024, would be a three-year cycle and within that time frame all the other competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and continental championships, would need to be accommodated.
“Hockey is fortunate”, said Wyatt, “That, unlike many sports, we know the teams that will be competing in Tokyo. Several sports have yet to hold their qualifying events. At least our nations and athletes know they have qualified and can prepare accordingly.”
For the future, Wyatt spoke of the importance of HOCKEY5s for opening up the sport to a new audience. The attendees on the webinar were shown a mock-up of how a HOCKEY5s tournament in the centre of Lausanne might look.
“It’s a growing format, to complement the other formats.” said Wyatt. “It will attract new audiences, with showcase events played in iconic city venues. We are encouraging people to play it on any facility and any surface.”
Supporting the drive to encourage investment in HOCKEY5s facilities, new guidance documents are being produced and will be available soon on the FIH website.
Hockey5s is one way in which hockey can both encourage more participants and demonstrate its ability to adapt and become more sustainable. This, said the Sport and Development Director, was just one of many ways that hockey was pushing forwards in sustainability.
“There is such a lot of good activity already happening within hockey across all areas of Sustainability as defined by the IOC – Economic, Environmental and Social.” he said, “We now need to bring it all together, recognise this existing work, identify areas that we need to improve, set targets across all areas and report regularly against it.”
The final part of Wyatt’s message was around the transition from wet pitches to dry pitches in a bid to reduce water usage within the sport. The very clear message was that this would be a gradual transition and organisations that had just invested in wet pitch facilities would not be expected to transition until their pitch facilities reached the end of their natural life-span.
While the range of equipment and the vision for the future has been very much at the core of the work being done by Alastair Cox and his team, the marketing team of Marianela O’Mahony and Nais del Todesco have been getting creative around the marketing of the Quality Programme.
Looking for a way to modernise the logo and marketing of the programme, the team tapped into a rich colour palette that will become synonymous with the work of the Quality Programme. Hanging around the FIH traditional red and blue colour scheme, the marketing department have drawn on oranges, greens and purples to enhance the look and feel of the branding.
These colour schemes, which will extend across all social media channels as well as certificates, will serve the dual purpose of signposting aspects and categories within the Quality Programme as well as reflecting the dynamic, progressive and creative work being done to ensure hockey remains at the forefront of innovation and excellence. They will also feature prominently on the Quality Programme’s home page at www.fih.ch/qp.
FIH site