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News for 03 April 2020

All the news for Friday 3 April 2020


Australian hockey goalkeeper Rachael Lynch takes up nursing job in fight against COVID-19

Australian women's team goalkeeper Rachael Lynch has registered as a nurse in Perth as the Tokyo Olympics remain postponed to 2021.


Rachael Lynch has 223 international caps for Australia women's hockey team as a goal.   -  ap

The coronavirus pandemic ended any chance of Rachael Lynch competing for Olympic gold in Tokyo this year. Now she’s switching into the medical mode to take on the virus.

Lynch, the goalkeeper for Australia’s women’s hockey team, is a registered nurse.

So after the Olympics were postponed to July of next year, Lynch applied to work as a registered nurse at two COVID-19 clinics in the Western Australia state capital.

Lynch was already working a day a week in a neuro-rehabilitation ward — part of her of work-life balance with training for elite sport. She initially didn’t have any scheduled shifts last week because the national squad — the Hockeyroos — were supposed to be in Europe preparing for the Olympics.

“As soon as we finished up on Monday I went in and saw my boss, the 33-year-old Lynch, rated among the best goalkeeper’s globally in the sport, told the Australian Associated Press.

“They’re trying to recruit as many nurses and healthcare workers as they can, because they’re anticipating the load is going to be massive soon.

“For the first time since being a graduate, I’m able to work full time as a nurse.

Lynch has been frustrated by seeing images of people gathering on beaches in parts of Australia and others of people not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously enough, despite government policies to curb travel and ensure social distancing.

“Anybody in hospital for any reason, they’re now put at risk (because of that), Lynch said.

There have been more than 5,000 infections and 24 deaths in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic. Altogether, close to 940,000 people around the world have contracted the virus, according to a tally being kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 47,000 people have died from the virus, which was first detected in China late last year.

Lynch said focusing on work meant she didn’t have time to dwell on missing an opportunity at the Olympics. The Australians were knocked out in the quarterfinals in 2016. With 150 international caps and a World Cup silver medal, Lynch is open-minded about her playing future.

“Most of the advice in the sporting world is to not make any big decisions now,” she told AAP. “I’ve reflected on the thoughts, words and emotions you might use to describe an Olympics being postponed.

“None of them are relevant now. You can’t say — devastated, disappointed or sad — because it just does not compare to what’s actually happening in the world right now.”

Sportstar



Spain and Maria Ruiz light up world hockey once again

The Hockey Paper looks back on another eventful summer for Spain women


Spain celebrate at Eurohockey 2019 PIC: Worldsportpics

Lights, speed, reaction! Spain women’s coach Adrian Lock hailed goalkeeper of the tournament Maria Ruiz as the hardest-working athlete he knew as a first medal at the Euros was gleaned in 16 years.

Spain women beat England 3-2 in the tournament’s only shoot-out last summer as they matched their world bronze in Antwerp and Lock said that Ruiz’s mind set to be the best she can be with limited funding was one of the many stories in a team which continues to make strides on the global scene.

To improve her skills between the posts, the 29-year-old and her engineer boyfriend – her brother, Alberto, is also Spain’s goalkeeper coach – were forced to created a homemade device to help her hand speed and reaction, complete with LED lights and circuit board as they worked on peripheral vision.

“She is the most demanding person ever and hardest-working,” said Lock. “She is always really demanding of herself and us on finding ways to get better. We don’t have a budget and it’s finding ways to overcome the obstacles.


Maria Ruiz trains on her reactionary homemade device

“It’s about resilience. You have to work even without money. She has to make her skill to train and study at the same time.”

Ruiz made plenty of world-class saves during the Euros to help Spain to their first Euro women’s medal in 16 years, while the men also won their first medal in 12 years after reaching the final against the hosts.

“It’s such a short competition that there are no second chances with a slip up,” added Lock.

“There are no margins and probably the toughest competition that we play.

“Each player sets the standard and everyone sees the effort each other is putting in.”

Asked how far this Spain side can go, Lock added: “As long as we keep that desire to improve and make ourselves better players and better people, the sky is the limit.

“We are pretty consolidated in that top five or six in the world and can compete there and belong there.”

This originally featured in a previous Hockey Paper edition. Don’t miss out. Subscribe in print or in digital format.

The Hockey Paper



"Hopefully we'll develop into some of the best players in the world"


Esme Burge

“It’s still really weird when people are asking for an autograph because a year ago I was doing this to the players I’m now on the pitch with!”

When she looks back over the last 12 months, Esme Burge admits she still has to ‘pinch myself sometimes’ at just how much she has achieved.

Having been a member of the GB Elite Development Programme (EDP) and representing England at the 2016 U21 World Cup aged just 16, Burge made her senior international debut in June 2019 when Great Britain’s women played Germany in the FIH Hockey Pro League.

Just a few weeks later she was offered a full-time contract on the senior programme, appeared in three further FIH Hockey Pro League games and went on the tour of Japan as the women continued their preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.

Reflecting on her journey, Burge said: “It’s been amazing. This time last year I was invited to do some one-off training sessions and it was so exciting to come to Bisham to train with the girls.

“And then it slowly transitioned into doing more and more and then I got offered the full-time contract in June. My life turned around then.

“It's pretty cool, to be a full-time athlete able to do what I love as a job every day. It’s been a whirlwind but it’s been really exciting and I’m really enjoying it.”


Sabbie Heesh and Esme Burge

One of the biggest changes for Burge was getting used to seeing the players she’d idolised for so long as her new team-mates, individuals she could be representing Great Britain alongside at next year’s Olympics.

“These are people I’ve looked up to for years and years and as a youngster”, the 20-year-old said.

”Before I’d played any junior stuff, some of these players were on the pitch playing for GB and I was watching them at the Olympics.

“That has been amazing, for those people to turn from not knowing who I am while I’m in total admiration of them to being my team-mates and being really good mates with them.

“It really gives me goosebumps thinking about that possibility [the Olympics]. I have to pinch myself sometimes. I’m playing alongside and I’m lucky enough to call these people my friends.

“It’s really cool and when times are tough I have to remember that as well.”

In spite of the largely positive start to her senior international career, there have been occasions already where this has come in more than useful for the Repton School pupil

She has found herself in and out of the Great Britain team since making her debut, only featuring once in the four games when they visited Australia and New Zealand for the FIH Hockey Pro League earlier this year. Even then, she only got to play half a game against the Hockeyroos before it was curtailed due to thunderstorms.

Burge was also not selected for the England team that went to the 2019 EuroHockey Championships but she knows that it will only make her stronger as a player over the coming months and years.


GB Women

Looking back on the Oceania tour, she said: “It was the longest time I’ve ever been away so by the end of the trip that was tough in itself, along with not getting picked much. The only game I did get picked for against Australia was the one ended at half-time by the storms.

“That was just my luck but the time I did get on the pitch I thoroughly enjoyed and felt like I played my role in the team.

“When you come in you’ve got that whirlwind and it’s all amazing but then it hits that it’s proper life and you’ve got to grind it out.

“Selection is really, really tough – people come back from injury and you’re not getting picked. That’s really hard. I’ve been lucky enough in the past that, in the junior stuff, I’ve usually been on the teamsheet.

“Now I’m really learning how to still have that confidence when my name isn’t on the team sheet, to still play my way, trust my instincts and have that confidence to play the way I want to play even if I’m on the edge of the squad and really fighting for a spot. It’s been a massive learning curve.”

Having only just left her teenage years behind though, Burge still has plenty of international hockey left under her belt in which to prove herself.

She is just one of a number of youngsters in the senior GB programmes who have transitioned through from the EDP and immediately shone on the international stage, alongside the likes of Charlotte Watson, Tess Howard, Jack Waller and Tom Sorsby.


Esme Burge

And having seen how quickly it can be possible for a young player to make that transition, Burge is excited to see the next crop of youngsters starting to knock on the senior door.

“Speaking to some of my friends who are in the EDP, it’s really put into perspective for them the possibility of where they can be in a year’s time and how things can change so quickly,” the former Beeston player said.

“In the next cycle and the one after we’ll hopefully be absolutely owning it on the world stage. People are already doing that but imagine what we could be doing in a few years’ time. It’s so nice that there’s a real tight knit group of us. It’s very exciting.

“I think it’s so exciting that we’ve got young blood coming through and hopefully we’ll develop into some of the best players in the world.”

Click here to listen to more from Burge in the first episode of #InsideTheCircle: The Podcast.

Great Britain Hockey media release



Dharmaraj zooms in from far

By Jugjet Singh


Dharmaraj works with four teams in Medan, Indonesia via video app Zoom.

OLD habits die hard. For former national women’s coach K. Dharmaraj, the Covid-19 pandemic is no deterrent.

Even under self-imposed quarantine, he is still training his charges from across the sea.

The coronavirus plague has not dampened Dharmaraj’s spirits as he still keeps a close watch, like a hawk, on four teams in Medan, Indonesia.

Dharmaraj accepted the offer to be the technical director in West Jawa after deciding not to re-apply for the national coaching job with the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).

However, just when he was getting things going in Indonesia, the pandemic halted sports worldwide.

“I had to leave Bandung after about a month coaching the men and women’s field and indoor hockey teams due to Covid-19.

“A week ago, people were still allowed to travel but the Bandung Airport was already closed.

“I then travelled by road to Jakarta and managed to get a ticket back home.

“However, I did not go home to my family after reaching Kuala Lumpur.

“I headed straight to an empty apartment (which his wife owns), which is still under renovation, in Bukit Jalil and dug myself in since.

“My wife brings food for me. Since I do not cook, I have been surviving on that ration.

“I start my day by watching and analysing old World Cup and Asian Games matches to pick up pointers.

“Then I spend time on video app Zoom with my players in Java and watch them train as well as give them pointers on what they can do at home.

“This keeps me busy. I will head home to my family when my self-imposed quarantine ends on April 8.”

Dharmaraj was lucky to leave Bandung as the capital of West Java is currently under lockdown.

“I am only a few kilometres away from my family, but I do not want to take any risks.

“Even though they can come and see me, I have told them to stay safe.

“The players in Java are a dedicated lot, and I believe in a few years, they can be shaped into a fighting outfit, both indoor and field.”

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Thailand have the best women’s indoor teams but Malaysia upset the form book by winning gold at last year’s Philippines Sea Games with Dharmaraj in charge.

Dharmaraj is known for his obsession with training.

When he was the national women’s coach, he used to train players at 3am during the fasting month — to get the players acclimatised to different time zones in tournaments in Europe.

Dharmaraj is well equipped with all the coaching skill in his apartment for the next six days — except for cooking skill.

New Straits Times



No pitch? No problem!



In these very uncertain times it is sometimes good to take stock and reflect upon what is good and positive in the world. The United Nations inspired International Day of Sport for Peace and Development takes place on 6 April and as part of the celebrations day, FIH is highlighting projects and initiatives from around the world that are showcasing the power of hockey to change society for the better.

Hockey can be learnt and played on just about any flat surface. This is the mindset that coaches and teachers are being asked to adopt in South Africa under aspirational plans to encourage more children to take up the sport.

South Africa Hockey Association (SAHA) is currently mid-way through its four year growth strategy 2018-2022, an aspirational plan to spread the sport across schools and clubs in all 52 districts, with competitive opportunities for all participants. Introducing modified hockey is one of the major steps in delivering the aims of the growth strategy and, as SAHA chief executive officer Marissa Langeni says: “We need to grow the game within our communities and to create opportunities to give greater access to the sport.

“These opportunities can be found within schools by adapting and aligning our modified hockey programme within a physical education space.”

At the heart of the plan are the coaching personnel: primary school teachers, club coaches and community based volunteers who will be trained to deliver modified hockey sessions to children new to the sport. Crucial to the plan is recognition that for people taking up and learning hockey there does not need to be a state-of-the-art water-based astroturf – in fact hockey can be played, in a modified format, just about anywhere.

The pragmatic approach taken by the SAHA encourages schools to use any smooth surface that allows the children to learn the skills and basic concepts of hockey, using modified equipment and smaller teams. To support teachers there is also a resource pack, which details the activities that will help children to learn the fundamentals of the sport.

Under the strategy, South Africa will have a whole new cohort of hockey enthusiasts. 375 new schools will be targeted for coaching and equipment; 7,500 youngsters will benefit from coaching, 750 teachers will be involved in the delivery of the nationwide programme and 2,440 modified sticks and balls will be distributed. Lead sponsor for the project is adhesive manufacturer Ezee Tiles, whose support has helped fund resource packs and modified equipment.

Once the hockey programmes are up and running, then neighbourhood hockey leagues will provide competitive opportunities. There are also a series of regional festivals and workshops planned although the global impact of the Corona Virus is likely to lead to the postponement of many of these activities.

The impact of the programme on a nation such as South Africa is immense. It gives children from all cultural backgrounds, ethnic groups and economic situations the opportunity to learn new skills, improve self-confidence, increase physical activity levels and build better communities through increased involvement of teachers, coaches, parents and children.

For hockey in South Africa generally, this programme opens the eyes of thousands more children to the enjoyment that can be gained from regularly playing a team sport as well as widening the talent pool from which the national team will discover its stars of the future.

#IDSDP2020

FIH site



War torn past gives way to hockey’s bright future



In these very uncertain times it is sometimes good to take stock and reflect upon what is good and positive in the world. The United Nations inspired International Day of Sport for Peace and Development takes place on 6 April and as part of the celebrations day, FIH is highlighting projects and initiatives from around the world that are showcasing the power of hockey to change society for the better.

We continue our series of articles in which we highlight some of the great work being carried out by hockey communities across the world to promote peace and development.

For this article we turn to one of the most war-ravaged countries in the world – the Asian nation of Afghanistan – where, despite being at the heart of conflict since the 1980s, ordinary people just want to do normal things, such as go to school and work, socialise with family and friends and play sport.

Afghanistan is not just damaged by wars and terrorism, it also ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world. Despite this, it continues to play a range of sports at international level, with its national hockey association aspiring to make Afghanistan a competitive hockey-playing nation. The men currently rank 70th in the world, while the women’s team is still very much in its infancy and is yet to get a world ranking.

It is not just at elite level that hockey is making in-roads in Afghanistan: it is also being played in pockets across the country and participants are finding that regular hockey training and competing in local matches is beneficial to both their physical and mental health. The demands of the game are both cathartic in a society where stress levels are extremely high and it also offers the chance for social networking.

Playing hockey is not without risk, particularly for females. There are strict laws on what women can and cannot do but that is not stopping women going out and challenging the cultural norms. As more women and girls take up the sport, so they are driving social change.

Rukhsar Habibzai, Director of the Afghanistan Hockey Federation’s women’s national team, says: “Despite the many hurdles in our lives, such as transportation problems, cultural and societal norms, and financial instability, women hockey players are still able to play hockey on a daily basis and the team is also progressing and improving. The national women’s hockey team has struggled so far to reach this level and they desire to participate in international championships.”

She adds: “Fortunately, for the very first time, a coaching course has been organised in which many women participated and received a technical coaching certificate. I hope one day we reach the level to play in international hockey stadiums and participate in international tournaments.”

It’s not just Afghanistan’s women who are empowered by the sport. Hockey is popular among men of all ages and children as well. Many leave their houses on a daily basis to play the sport. This is an important release that allows them to escape, even for a short while, the harsh realities of life that the country’s circumstances have imposed upon them.

Hockey as a sport resurged in the country in 2002, after a 30-year long gap due to the war with Russia. It is also a means of driving development within the country. The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) organises coaching courses to support and develop the hockey playing community of Afghanistan.

From 2003 onwards, the AHF started providing equipment support to the country, which saw the distribution of free hockey equipment to thousands of participants in Afghanistan.

Taimoor Waqar of the AHF says: “The main missions of the Afghanistan Hockey Federation are to ‘Protect the Youth’ and to ‘Promote Peace’ through the sport of hockey in the country. Afghanistan is a shining example for the rest of the world when it comes to overcoming adversity and rising above it all through the institution of sport.”

#IDSDP2020

FIH site

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