Alan Brahmst announced as Canadian Men's Coach

As part of Field Hockey Canada’s (FHC) strategic roadmap and in consideration of achieving the near term objective of winning the Pan American Cup in March, 2008, FHC has appointed Alan Brahmst (Toronto, Ontario) as the interim coach for the Men's National Team. Alan will bring with him a proven staff with tremendous experience and varied expertise to continue the team's significant progress, which had been engineered and led by Louis Mendonca during the past 2 years.

'I feel confident in our capacities to further develop the tactical and technical capabilities necessary to continue our rise in world rankings. The coaching staff has begun to collaborate on a number of opportunities to introduce leading game strategies and has implemented new and innovative practice components. We have full confidence in our abilities to design and execute a successful tournament strategy in Santiago'. Alan further stated that 'the progress in our player development has paid dividends and with limited retirements since the Olympics, we have a strong pool of players from which to build a dangerous team'.

Alan Brahmst has been an assistant to Louis Mendonca since 2007 and was most recently part of the coaching staff at the Beijing Olympics with the responsibility to develop the tournament's tactical plan. With a 15-year career with the national team and 178 internationals, Alan was an integral part of the Canadian men’s team that ranked as high as 8th during the 90s.

Alan's appointment is in line with Field Hockey Canada's commitment to an innovative 'Made in Canada' approach for developing the sport by leveraging and building on the existing expertise of our Canadian resources.

Source: Field Hockey Canada

FIH names WorldHockey Player of the Year Award

Argentina’s Luciana Aymar and Spain’s Pol Amat were crowned as WorldHockey Players of the Year 2008 in Los Angeles, USA on Friday. Both hockey stars received their awards during a special ceremony on the occasion of the FIH Congress Dinner at Universal Studios in the Californian city.

Dutch Maartje Paumen and Australian Eddie Ockenden received the WorldHockey Young Player of the Year 2008 awards. All four hockey stars were present in Los Angeles to receive their awards.

The awards were presented by FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman during the special ‘Emmy Awards’ type of show. All players who participated at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing last August were able to vote for their favourite.

Aymar grabbed her fifth WorldHockey Player of the Year award after she won the title in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007. The 31 year old bronze medallist of the Beijing Olympics was excited with being the best player in the world again.

Amat became the first Spaniard to win the WorldHockey Player of the Year Award. For the silver medalist from Beijing it is the recognition for all the years he was among the best hockey players in the world. Amat took over the title from Australian Jamie Dwyer, who was again one of the nominees for the award this year.

Dutch striker Maartje Paumen was awarded as women’s WorldHockey Young Player of the Year. For Paumen this was the icing on the cake of a year she could only dream of. Paumen won with Netherlands the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and became the top scorer of the tournament with 11 goals, a record in Olympic history.

Australian Eddie Ockenden took over the title of men’s WorldHockey Young Player of the Year from his teammate Mark Knowles. Ockenden proved to be in excellent form both at the Olympic Games and the WorldHockey Champions Trophy in 2008.

Past winners WorldHockey Player of the Year Award:

Men
1998 Stephan Veen (NED)
1999 Jay Stacy (AUS)
2000 Stephan Veen (NED)
2001 Florian Kunz (GER)
2002 Michael Green (GER)
2003 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2004 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2005 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2006 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2007 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2008 Pol Amat (ESP)

Women
1998 Alyson Annan (AUS)
1999 Natascha Keller (GER)
2000 Alyson Annan (AUS)
2001 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2002 Cecilia Rognoni (ARG)
2003 Mijntje Donners (NED)
2004 Luciana Aymar(ARG)
2005 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2006 Minke Booij (NED)
2007 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2008 Luciana Aymar (ARG)

Young Men
2001 Tibor Weissenborn (GER)
2002 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2003 Grant Schubert (AUS)
2004 Santi Freixa (ESP)
2005 Robert van der Horst (NED)
2006 Christopher Zeller (GER)
2007 Mark Knowles (AUS)
2008 Eddie Ockenden (AUS)

Young Women
2001 Angie Skirving (AUS)
2002 Soledad Garcia (ARG)
2003 Maartje Scheepstra (NED)
2004 Soledad Garcia (ARG)
2005 Maartje Goderie (NED)
2006 Mi Hyun Park (KOR)
2007 Maike Stockel (GER)
2008 Maartje Paumen (NED)

FIH names world AllStar Hockey teams for 2008

After the success of the WorldHockey All Star Teams in 2006 and 2007, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is pleased to announce the WorldHockey All Star Teams of 2008. Only the best 18 players of the world in each gender are part of this team, which was chosen by hockey experts from all over the world.

The announcement of the WorldHockey All Star Teams was made in Los Angeles, USA on the eve of the FIH Congress and Meetings week, which starts on Sunday 23 November 2008. During the week, the FIH will also announce the 2008 Players of the Year, for which the award ceremony will take place at Universal Studios on Friday 28 November 2008.

The following players (in alphabetical order) were selected for the WorldHockey All Star Teams 2008:

Men’s WorldHockey All Stars 2008:

* Pol Amat (Spain)
* Sebastian Biederlack (Germany)
* Rehan Butt (Pakistan)
* Jamie Dwyer (Australia)
* Santi Freixa (Spain)
* Bevan George (Australia)
* Rodrigo Garza (Spain)
* Robert van der Horst (Netherlands)
* Alistair McGregor, goalkeeper (Great Britain)
* Barry Middleton (Great Britain)
* Teun de Nooijer (Netherlands)
* Eddie Ockenden (Australia)
* Jong Ho Seo (Korea)
* Eduard Tubau (Spain)
* Guus Vogels, goalkeeper (Netherlands)
* Tibor Weissenborn (Germany)
* Timo Wess (Germany)
* Matthias Witthaus (Germany)
* Maurits Hendriks, coach (Spain)
* Markus Weise, coach (Germany)

Women’s WorldHockey All Stars 2008:

* Naomi van As (Netherlands)
* Luciana Aymar (Argentina)
* Tina Bachman (Germany)
* Minke Booij (Netherlands)
* Kaori Chiba (Japan)
* Baorong Fu (China)
* Alejandra Gulla (Argentina)
* Rachel Imison, goalkeeper (Australia)
* Natascha Keller (Germany)
* Seon Ok Lee (Korea)
* Yibo Ma (China)
* Maartje Paumen (Netherlands)
* Carla Rebecchi (Argentina)
* Fanny Rinne (Germany)
* Maria Jesus Rosa, goalkeeper (Spain)
* Janneke Schopman (Netherlands)
* Qingling Song (China)
* Melanie Wells (Australia)
* Mark Lammers (Netherlands)
* Chang Back Kim, coach (China)

Congratulations

On behalf of the SAHA executive, we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Southern Gauteng on the appointment of the following people, that will be doing National duties at the Junior World Cup in 2009.

Gareth Ewing will be representing the South Africa under 21 men at the Junior World Cup in Malaysia and Singapore as the assistant coach from 7th to 21st June 2009.

Patrick Tshutshani will be representing the South Africa under 21 ladies at the Junior World cup in Boston USA as the Video Analyst from the 3rd to the 16th of August 2009.

Yours sincerely,
South African Hockey Association

Lennie Botha
Coaching – High Performance

FIH releases Qualified Teams for 2009 Events

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) released the teams qualified for its World Level Events in 2009. The post Olympic year will see four men’s and four women’s tournaments.

The most important events next year are the Samsung Champions Trophy women (11-19 July 2009 in Sydney, Australia) and the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy men (28 November-6 December 2009 in Melbourne, Australia).

Men’s Champions Trophy – 2009 (Melbourne, Australia)
1. Australia Host and Champions Trophy Champion 2008
2. Germany Olympic Champions 2008 and World Cup Champions 2006
3. Spain 2nd ranked Olympic Games 2008
4. Netherlands 4th ranked Olympic Games 2008
5. England 5th ranked Olympic Games 2008 (Great Britain)
6. Korea 6th ranked Olympic Games 2008

Women’s Champions Trophy – 2009 (Sydney, Australia)
1. Australia Host
2. Netherlands Olympic Champions 2008, World Cup Champions 2006
3. Argentina Champions Trophy Champion 2008
4. China 2nd ranked Olympic 2008
5. Germany 4th ranked Olympics 2008
6. England 6th ranked Olympics 2008 (Great Britain)

Tornados win 1st Vietnam’s International Sixes

Tornados of Vietnam defeated the three top seeded Malaysian hockey teams to become champions of the 1st Vietnam International Hockey Sixes held in Ho Chi Minh City on 8 and 9 November, which saw 14 teams competing for the title.

Despite the fact that Tornados Vietnam was boosted by the three Vietnamese brothers Binh, Sammy and Tommy Hoang who had played competitive field hockey in the US but now pretty much retired because of business commitments, the team was never fancied to win the tournament after they only came fourth in Pool B at the end of the previous day.

God must have been smiling on the local Vietnamese hockey team on the final day when Tornados Vietnam knocked out tournament favourites Kelab Aman of Kuala Lumpur in the quarterfinals, then Kedah Veterans in the semifinals before beating another Kuala Lumpur side, “Sunday 2030” in the Final in a sudden death penalty shoot out to become champions.

As the organizers were hoping that the tournament would give the Vietnamese players exposure to international club hockey, never in their wildest dreams did they think a local Vietnam side would win the tournament especially since field hockey is hardly played in the country.

The other clubs participating from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong certainly witnessed the birth of field hockey with this historic win by a local Vietnamese hockey team (albeit unexpectedly) as it will create tremendous interest amongst the local Vietnamese in this 100 year old Olympic sport. The Vietnam International Hockey Sixes will be an annual fixture on the fledging Vietnamese field hockey scene.

For more information about the Vietnam Hockey Festival please visit www.vietnamhockey.vn

Source: Vietnam Hockey

Paul Revington new professional coach of Ireland men's team

The Irish Hockey Association is delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Revington to the position of National Men’s Coach.

South African born Revington was appointed by the selection committee, which included representatives from both Sports Councils, a retired senior athlete, the High Performance Director, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive, after a rigorous interview process against internationally recognised coaches from around the world and Ireland.

Revington brings a wealth of experience to the role but in particular from his three years as Head Coach of the South African Men’s Team where under his reign they moved from 14th to 10th in the world rankings, qualifying and competing in both the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Cup.

Chief Executive Angus Kirkland was clearly excited about the new appointment “On behalf of the selection committee, I am delighted to introduce Paul Revington as the new Men’s National Coach. Having coached the South African Men’s team qualifying them for the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World cup he is well placed to lead Irelands Men to the next Olympics. He will take over a team that is shaping up well for 2012, thanks in large part to the hard work Dave Passmore has put in over the last four years. Passmore becomes the High Performance Director, a role he has been doing in a dual capacity with the Head Coach. It is an exciting time for Irish Men’s Hockey as we move forward with a world class coach and for the first time a fully complemented High Performance structure.”

Revington, who will officially commence the position early in the New Year will have an opportunity to see his new team in action against Scotland later this month, commented earlier on his appointment “It is an honour for me to be appointed as the new Irish Men's Senior Hockey coach. I have watched the Irish Team and Irish Hockey grow consistently over the years and am excited to become a part this organisation. There is fantastic talent and existing strengths within Irish Men's Hockey and I look forward to creating a dynamic environment that enhances this talent and strength."

Passmore who will now have the opportunity to focus solely on his role as High Performance Director was keen to express his thanks as he know steps away from the Senior Coaching role “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those athletes and management that have committed so much to the program since I arrived four years ago. We can look back on the fact that we have made significant progress and laid the foundations for this group to now go on and get the results we came so close to achieving. Trying to establish an elite sports environment as amateurs requires real dedication and commitment. The athletes have sacrificed so much over the past few years as have the staff, many of which are volunteers. I hope they have enjoyed the journey (the highs and lows) as much as I have, and I look forward to watching the team achieving greater success moving forward.”

Source: Irish Hockey Association

2009 IIHF men's world hockey championship tour

Come cheer for team Canada! We are the travel partner of hockey Canada and the complete fan tour package is now available on our website. Follow this link http://msat.ca/2009_iihf_world_hockey_championship.html to get all the details and download the complete itinerary.

You will be able to reserve your place for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and also check the testimonials and a picture gallery of the fan tour we did last year for the world juniors in Prague! A video montage of last year's event is also available at this adress

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrja8WRNalE

Your 10-day WHC inclusive tour to beautiful Switzerland includes:

" Airfare (from Montreal or Toronto) (from Calgary & Vancouver*)
" 8-night deluxe accommodation
" Breakfast daily
" Five local specialty meals
" Transportation to the games
" Ticket for 8 WHC Final Round games
" Sightseeing tour of Berne and Basel
" Excursion to Alsace (France) on the wine circuit (with vineyard visit and typical Alsace meal)
" One-day excursion to Luzerne with sightseeing
" Visits and attractions
" MSAT/WHC 2009 apparel
" On-site MSAT tour guide

You can also check the website to stay updated on everything related to the events like participating teams and the official schedule.

If you need help or if you have any questions for us, please do not hesitate to contact us: ericbeaudet@msat.ca or fill the help form on the website. Please note that we also organize all kind of teams wishing to go on hockey tours so check out WWW.MSAT.CA to get to know all of our offers.

THE position of head coach of the SA men’s hockey team is available.

Courtesy of Jon Cook
SA Hockey Association (Saha) general manager Paul Richards sent out a statement Friday that the successful applicant is required to “take our men to the World Cup in 2010″.

Saha president Dave Carr told Weekend Witness Friday that this new development doesn’t mean the national hockey body is firing the current coach, Gregg Clark, who took SA captain Bruce Jacobs’ side to the Beijing Olympics last month, where they finished 12th and last.
“Gregg has a one-year contract that expires at the end of this month and in terms of legalities and a professional approach there is a requirement to advertise the post once again,” said Carr.
“Clarkie has indicated to Saha that he is considering applying for the job again, while it is also in SA hockey’s interest that we take this opportunity to cast the net in order to look at the quality of candidate that would be interested.”

In answer to a question as to the future of SA women’s head coach Jenny King, who took captain Marsha Marescia’s team to the Olympic Games in China, where they finished 11th out of the 12 countries who qualified for hockey’s quadrennial showpiece event, Carr said the situation was different. “Jenny has a four-year contract that expires after Hockey World Cup 2010,” the Saha president said.

One of the requirements of applicants is to explain what they, as SA men’s head coach, can bring to the role and how they would set out about achieving this.

There could well be a number of leading coaches in KZN who would be interested in the full-time position, which has a negotiable remuneration package.
They are invited to apply to Saha coaching portfolio head Lennie Botha at lennie.botha@hp.com by October 14.

The case for specialisation

I read an interesting article this week from one of the local sports journo’s who commented that part of the reason South Africa did so poorly at this Olympics was the lack of structure in our approach to this campaign.

In a nutshell the writer pointed out that the reason Kenya had gotten more medals than South Africa was because they had gone to the Olympics with a specific plan. Their plan was that they produced runners, not show jumpers, not hockey players, not swimmers – just RUNNERS.

South Africa on the other hand took the policy of sending anyone who was good enough to be at the Olympics (I said BE not COMPETE).

I’m going to use South African hockey as an example because it’s a topic I know some things about. I thought I ladies might have been in with a shout for a top 6 finish if they played out of their skin. If they had pulled it off then they would have been a huge boost to SA hockey from both a sponsorship and marketing perspective. Unfortunately they were out of their depth and they didn’t do the business.

On the other hand, our Men’s hockey side were never in with a shout. The selection row before they left, the scramble for sponsorship money and then the poor results at the games, ultimately were a black mark against hockey.

(Just as an aside – I agree that smaller nations need to play stronger opposition if they hope to improve, I disagree that this should happen at the Olympics).

Quite simply we committed funds and resources to a team that would never deliver. That is 20 people worth of resources that were sponsored despite having no chance. Let’s pick a nominal value of R25000 per player and that gives you half a million Rand that was spent on a side we knew could never bring us home a top 4 or top 6 finish.

This is not taking anything away from the men’s hockey side, its simply looking at the bigger picture of the Games campaign as a whole.

Fairness of it all?

Was it fair to them to be sent to the Olympics to produce an average performance?

Conversely was it fair to other athletes who might have been in with a shout to have been denied that additional sponsorship?

Could the same money not have been better invested in SA hockey development for the next campaign?

I argued this point with certain people within hockey this week and I got the argument that it is the Olympics and if you are given the chance to participate, it only comes around every 4 years and most athletes only 1 (occasionally 2 chances) to compete.

I guess I am torn on the issue.

Should the Olympics have been a chance to showcase ANY sporting talent or rather the BEST sporting talent we have?

Hindsight is obviously 20/20, but I don’t believe we thought this campaign through and we never had any goals. We sent a bunch of guys and girls out to take on the world and then bemoaned the fact that we brought home a single medal.

If you don’t have a goal, you can never expect to bring home the results that you demand…

Indoor / Close skills

Somebody picked up on an interesting aspect relating to the South African Olympic hockey teams which I thought I would briefly touch on - our inability to handle and control the ball in close in situations has let us down during this campaign.

The person I was chatting to believed that this has a lot to do with South Africas lack of interest in promoting indoor hockey.

Obviously indoor hockey is a much tighter game where there is a demand for much greater close in skills.

Indoor hockey is not treated particularly seriously in South Africa with many players simply using it as a warm up / knock around for the main outdoor season.

The lack of dedicated infrastructure (most of the games are played in school halls) has been an ongoing problem and there doesn't seem to be any obvious intention to change this.

Maybe this poor Olympic campaign will force a rethink.

The South African side looked good in open play but when compared to say the Australians, who showed plenty of composure under pressure in the circle, the SA sides seemed to lose possession or fire off a hopeful (hopeless?) shot.

Positive can be taken out
Identifying a specific problem that the South African sides can work on, is a positive. A failed campaign highlighted a weakness and we now know what we can work on.

The question though will be whether or not something is in fact done about it...

Olympic Hockey Schedule for today

Women's Hockey Group B - Game 1
Japan vs. New Zealand
10:30 AM EST, 10/08 Olympic Green Hockey Stadium

Women's Hockey Group A - Game 1
China vs. Spain
12:30 PM EST, 10/08 Olympic Green Hockey Stadium

Women's Hockey Group A - Game 2
Australia vs. Korea
08:00 PM EST, 10/08 Olympic Green Hockey Stadium

Women's Hockey Group B - Game 2
Argentina vs. United States
08:30 PM EST, 10/08 Olympic Green Hockey Stadium

Women's Hockey Group A - Game 3
Netherlands vs. S Africa
10:30 PM EST, 10/08 Olympic Green Hockey Stadium

Women's Hockey Group B - Game 3
Germany vs. Gr Britain
11:00 PM EST, 10/08

Pirates Hockey Club Golf Day

ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) is a partial sponsor of the 2008 Pirates Hockey Club golf day – see details below. We’re urging some of our partners to get involved and enjoy a round of golf and then perhaps chat about some of the opportunities for you and your clients to get some exposure in ManufacturingHub.co.za and our industrial reports.

If you would like to participate, the details are as below.

We do have some hole sponsorship opportunities available from R750 a hole should your clients wish to get some extra exposure.

All funds raised go to Pirates Hockey Club.

Event Details Date: 28 August

Time: 11 am start Venue: Parkview Golf Course

R2000 per 4-ball if you pay on the day or R1600 per 4 ball if you pay up front – includes dinner

Pirates Hockey can do an invoice for you

Tournament format - Stableford 4 ball alliance - 2 scores to count

Enquiries – Marc Ashton (082-561-1585) or marc@rival.co.za

About Pirates Hockey Club

Pirates Hockey Club in Greenside is one of the leading hockey setups in Gauteng. Currently the side has 2 international representatives at the Beijing Olympic Games. The club offers hockey to around 100 adult hockey players and another 100 junior and mini players. Pirates Sports Club in Greenside provides facilities for the likes of Roosevelt, King David and Greenside to have access to fields and a hockey astro turf that they do not get at their schools.

About ManufacturingHub.co.za

ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) is an industrial online publication and research company aimed at the South African Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. The site receives approximately 3000 unique visitors each month and continues to provide a valuable source of news and information to the SA Regulated Manufacturing industries.

www.rival.co.za – Corporate Wellness, Industrial Research, Publishing and Design

www.remspeced.co.za - Remedial & Special Education in SA

www.manufacturinghub.co.za – News for the SA Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries

Pullilng the ball to the right

Had an interesting discussion with 2 junior hockey coaches last night with regards to the ability to pull the ball to the right hand side.

Because the majority of hockey players are right handed / right hand dominant the natural instinct when running with the ball, is to pull the ball hard to the left to go round an opponent.

Much of this is attributed to not developing these muscles and body mechanics early on as a youth player.

Youth players need to be coached to move the ball to the right - it is a physical skill that takes practice and the earlier they learn it, the stronger they will be at it when they get older.

Create entire exercises that focus on movement to the right.

It is important also to not let players simply pivot on their right foot and then still pull to the left. That is defeating the object and is as predictable.

The pull must be a genuine controlled movement to the right hand side...

Penalty corners - 1

Coaches are often infatuated with coming up with complicated short (penalty) corner combinations that sees the ball passed 15 times before somebody tries to put it into the goal.

It all looks very impressive with people running left, right and centre and ultimately it turns into a cock-up and the chances of actually scoring a goal are somewhere between 0 and ... 0!

For some reason, many coaches seem to think they're "above" the ordinary straight push, stop and hit the ball at the goal. Don't ask me why - because statistically its one of the most easy ways to score goals in school and amateur leagues in particular.

A couple of pointers here.

1. Speed and accuracy of the pusher is imperative. They don't need to zing it through so hard that the stopper has no way of stopping it, but they do have to beat the first wave to the hitter.

2. The hitter must hit it with the face of the stick. For some silly reason, you still get coaches who believe "blading" the strike (hitting the ball with the blade of the stick instead of the face) is the way to go.... I've seen it practiced hundred times and never once seen it work.

3. The hitter (believe it or not) doesn't need to see how hard he or she can hit it. They do however need to be accurate. Its still astounding to see how many people will sacrifice accuracy for power... See what the keeper is doing, pick your spot and tuck it away.

Hockey is a relatively simple game - don't confuse a bit of skill with overcomplication.

Basics in coaching

Many coaches (particularly at higher school and club levels) seem to forget the value of coaching basics to their players.

Instead the interest seems to be on developing horrificly complicated short (penalty) corners or set pieces.

While these do have some merit (when they can actually be executed properly), many sides suffer from not having good solid basics that allows them to pick up a ball on either front or back (weak) sticks.

Until your players can make and receive 5-10 metre passes, your chances of being consistent and being able to execute many of the expansive set pieces you have developed will be nullified. Focus on the basics and you will open up your level of play and success enormously.

Spend time during practice, irrespective of level of player, reinforcing and demanding a high level of basic hit / stop / pass execution while static and then on the move. When these skills are developed, then you can start looking at the set pieces.

African Champs

SA U21 Men 3—2 Egypt

SA U21 Women 6— 0 Egypt


Well done to the young South African hockey teams!

Overhead pass in ladies hockey

In the lower levels in particular, the overhead pass can be one of the most powerful 0ffensive tools in ladies hockey.

I am not sure whether it is unique to South Africa (I highly doubt it), but many of the sides playing ladies hockey are completely at sea when the ball comes off the deck.

The value of having a player who can launch overheads into the corners of the oppositions defence or pressure the keeper by throwing balls into the circle cannot be stressed enough.

Despite this apparent weakness / opportunity, very few coaches and players spend much time developing these skills.

Centre forward / striker

There seems to be a split in ideals around the role of the Centre Forward / Striker in South Africa.

A lot of this has to do with the way certain teams go about looking to get the ball in the back of the net. We have a very successful university side whose core strategy is to work the ball around to eventually force a penalty corner and then depend on some slick, really well worked moves to score. They don't have a "target man" who is going to blast the ball home - 'roof and rising' that they centre the game plan around.

Many of the other sides are far less rigid structure / tactic and centre much of their game around getting the ball to a guy who is going to blast the ball into the back of the net.

Characteristics of a good striker are normally:
- Composure under pressure
- Ability to hit on both front and back sticks shots
- Pace

Comments on what makes up a good centre forward / striker?

The Sweeper

As part of the offering, we will be reviewing various positions on the hockey field and inviting comment from hockey coaches around the best ways to utilise these players, whats expected of them and what characteristics make up a good player in that position.

The Sweeper is typically your defensive kingpin. Characteristics that normally make up a good sweeper include:
- Strong communication skills
- Speed
- Ability to read the game
- Good distribution skills
- Ability to throw and defend against the overhead pass

Different teams operate with different roles for the sweeper:
Some opt to have a roving sweeper either man marking a specific opponent
Others look to the sweeper as the last line of defence and to be able to switch the ball around
Other coaches have less rigid ideas where the sweeper and centre half simply interchange as and when they are needed

If you have comments on what has worked for you in the past and how you pick and utilise your sweeper, post it below

Welcome to the Hockey Strategist

Welcome to the Hockey Strategist blog

I'm a South African sports enthusiast who is involved in hockey, cricket and rugby at different levels.

Field Hockey in South Africa, while relatively well established, lacks a lot of resources and exposure to take it to the next level and make it genuinely competitive on the international scene. At club level, many of the coaches lack formalised training and you see the same ex players being rotated amongst the clubs.

New coaches wishing to join, don't have resources to exchange ideas and spread the knowledge. For this reason, I've decided to try and create a platform from which South African coaches and administrators can interact with international counterparts, list clubs, coaching opportunities etc and try and take advantage of the power of the internet to build their hockey skills.

We invite comment from coaches around the world on various positions, tactics, teams and tours to try and turn this into a thoroughly interactive site.