ASSISTANT COACHING CHANGES FOR BLACK STICKS
Hockey New Zealand is announcing several changes to coaching support for the Vantage Black Sticks men and women teams over the November-January period.
Former India Men’s Assistant Coach Gregg Clark comes in as paternity cover for Vantage Black Sticks Men’s Assistant Coach Mike Delaney. Delaney, who is expecting his second child, is unable to travel with the team to Oman for the Olympic Qualifiers in January but he expects to return to his normal role in February 2024.
Clark brings a wealth of international coaching and playing experience and is no stranger to Olympic campaigns having attended four (two as a player, and three as a coach. Prior to being an Assistant Coach with India he was Assistant Coach for Canada Men and Head Coach for South Africa Men. Clark has also represented South Africa on the world stage 250 times.
In the Vantage Black Sticks women’s programme, Assistant Coach Bryce Collins has made the decision to step-back from full time work to focus on spending more time with his young family. Collins remains at HNZ as a part-time project manager.
Assistant Coach Verity Sharland has also made the decision to change the nature of her high performance coaching, due to taking up a more prominent position as Head of Faculty in her teaching career with Feilding High School. Sharland has been accepted in to the HPSNZ residency programme, a work place employment opportunity that provides highly capable females with leadership opportunities within NSO’s. The programme enables coaches and leaders to apply their skillsets in real-world situations, while providing development and learning support. This opportunity allows Sharland to continue her coaching journey alongside her teaching role, specifically targeting the Future Black Sicks programme, the Vantage Black Sticks Women, and developing and mentoring female coaches.
Shea McAleese remains an assistant coach for the Vantage Black Sticks women and travelled with this program for the test series vs. USA in December followed by the Olympic Qualification tournament in Ranchi, India in January.
General Manager High Performance Darren Smith said “These changes keep experience, capability and consistency with the teams so that we are well placed heading into Olympic Qualifiers in January. It is an exciting time both professionally and personally for Mike, Bryce, and Verity. From a family or work perspective 2024 will see changes in their life and we know they will continue to make an impact in our high-performance programme in the future.”