Karen Brown has spent a lifetime immersed in hockey, firstly as a player and then as a coach. Talk to her and you would never know that this unassuming woman is the most capped female player to represent Great Britain and England, or that she is one of the most highly rated coaches in the game.
She is also often held up as an example, both within hockey and across the wider sporting arena, of a role model for women wanting to move into coaching – an area where there remains disparity.
In 2015, Brown was part of the coaching team that plotted England’s gold medal win at EuroHockey 2015, plus a tremendous win at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Valencia, Spain.
“Getting the Women's Coach of the Year Award is a huge honour for me, although I have to say that my role within England and Great Britain's success is as one part of a much wider team, so I am a little embarrassed to be singled out of what is a highly skilled coaching and back room staff,” says Brown.
She continued: “While I am grateful to be recognised I am acutely aware that there are very few female coaches working at the cutting edge of our sport and hopefully this will alter in the coming years. However, the very positive side of this award is that it also shows that female athletes can become successful coaches. By winning this award, I hope I can act as a role model to other players who want to make the transition from playing to coaching. It does take hard work and sacrifice, but as a player you gain so much knowledge that can be transferable into coaching.”
For more information about the Hockey Stars 2015, click here.
