A rugby coach, plus several Olympians, were all on hand to deliver a range of programmes to an enthusiastic audience at the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The high profile annual invitational hockey competition provided the perfect opportunity for International Hockey Federation (FIH) Academy trainers to deliver a series of Hockey Academy programmes and courses to participants from across the Asia region.
At the end of the nine day period, more than 60 people had benefited from one of four training programmes.
The Asia contingent of umpires, coaches and educators turned out in numbers to take advantage of the hockey training available. The courses offered were as Academy Trainers, Academy Educators, Advanced Umpires and Level Two Coaches.
Among the 16 nations who took part were Iran, Myanmar, Oman and Qatar – all countries that are relatively new to the international hockey scene, demonstrating the increasing reach that hockey is having across the globe.
In addition to the courses, there were opportunities for representatives of hockey in Asia to meet with some of the best coaching brains in the game - Netherlands coach and former Argentina international Max Caldas; former Kookaburra and High Performance Director to Malaysia Hockey, Terry Walsh; Hockey India’s Head of High Performance Roel Oltmans; and Tayyab Ikram of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) were all on hand to offer their expertise over the course of the programmes as well as being available for discussions about ways of developing hockey across the continent.
In a great example of cross-sport collaboration, Simon Jones, an experienced coach with England Rugby and a trainer with the World Academy of Sport, was also on hand to help with the delivery of courses.
Talking about what a rugby coach can bring to hockey, Jones said: ‘Initially, I was a little concerned that not being an expert would mean that I had less to offer as a trainer in other sports/businesses, I quickly found that the skill is in asking the right questions to challenge people in whatever situation to reflect on what they are doing and why.”
The result of the investment in these programmes has been tangible: 27 newly qualified Level Two coaches; 18 umpires reaching Advanced status, four Academy Trainers and 13 Academy Educators. The future for hockey across Asia is looking very bright.
The work between the FIH Hockey Academy and the Asian Hockey Federation is one more important step towards achieving the ambition of the FIH Hockey Revolution– developing a global game to inspire the next generation. Increasing the number of highly qualified and knowledgeable coaches, umpires and training local and regional coach educators to deliver programmes will raise the standard of hockey delivery at all levels of the game across the Asian continent.
Mike Joyce, FIH Master Trainer for the AHF project, explained that the next stages include further developing the Level Two coaching programme and planning a 2017 programme of development activities, which would involve collaboration between AHF and the Hockey Academy workforce.
For more information about the FIH Hockey Academy, click here.
