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Planet Field Hockey

Off The Crossbar Article Series

The Women?s Pan Am U-21 World Cup qualifying tournament took place recently in Barbados. Canada?s team won the bronze medal, however in some circles there has been an uproar over the results achieved by the team. Before people storm the proverbial Bastille, the question that must be asked is ?what was the coaching staff expected to achieve??
At the professional levels of coaching in field hockey, i.e., any coach who is paid to coach, and in other sports, coaches and their staffs are the casualty when a team doesn?t get the ?results?. In amateur sports like field hockey, the various constituencies that have an interest in an elite club, state or national team have different agendas. These different, and usually hidden, agendas are used by people to determine whether a coach stays or is dismissed. This isn?t very fair to the coach and the organization?s members.

Coaches must be dealt with fairly, just as in the work place. Most coaches in field hockey report to a board, or a committee, which is responsible for the performance of the team. The board must require the coach to present a plan for the measurement period that includes performance objectives for the team. For example, the team will finish seventh at the Olympic tournament, or the team will win the gold medal. There are many other factors that must be taken into consideration including the budget to prepare the team, the quality of the athletes on the team, the quality of the preparation in comparison to other teams, etc.

For the coach to be measured fairly, both the coach and board must sign the document that defines the performance objectives. This mutual sign off demonstrates a shared responsibility for the team?s performance. Therefore, the results are not solely on the coach?s shoulders. The objectives must remain private and confidential during the measurement period. After the results are in, the objectives should be made public, so that all members of the organization can measure both the performance of the coach and the board who acts on their behalf. In some cases, it may be the board that should be dismissed.

I recently read news on the Internet that the presidents of the national field hockey associations in India and Pakistan have stated that their team will win the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in the men?s section. The coaching staffs of eleven countries will fail at winning a gold medal. If all these coaches have met the objectives agreed upon by their national associations, then we can expect that they will discontinue in their professional capacities after the Olympics by their choosing only.

In my on-going business career, I expect to be measured by the annual business plan that has been approved by the board of directors of the company. If I coach again at the elite level, I am going to expect nothing less. I recommend that all coaches expect the same from their governing organizations.

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