Paying A Price For The Past?

There is nothing sadder than witnessing a once great team unravel.

The Australian Women’s Hockey team were the cream of the crop for a long time. Denied the opportunity to play at the 1980 Olympic Games the first in which women’s hockey was played, in 1984 they lost the bronze medal match to the host nation the United States on penalty strokes. In this competition the medals were decided by where teams finished in a League format. Australia and the USA could not be separated, both teams had played five, won two, drawn one and lost two, and had the same goal difference.

Four years later they became the first Hockey team from Australia to claim an Olympic gold medal beating South Korea in the final. Two more Gold medals followed in 1996 and 2000. Interestingly when it comes to the Olympics it appears that it is Gold or nothing for the Hockeyroos as these are their only Olympic medals in nine Olympic appearances.

Despite a further two World Cup gold medals and three silver, six Champions Trophy Gold medals and five silver, as well Commonwealth Games and Oceania Cup success the team has not enjoyed the same level of accomplishment that it had before the turn of the century.

Since the year 2000 there have been no Olympic medals, two World Cup silver medals, one Champions Trophy gold medal along with four silver medals.

For eleven years leading up to the end of the year 2000 the Hockeyroos had a naming rights sponsor in Telstra. So following the success in Seoul the country’s number one Telecommunications company wanted to be associated with the team, and the team became known as the Telstra Hockeyroos. Did Telstra see the writing on the wall at the end of the year 2000? As that was when the sponsorship ended.

Interestingly at the time Telstra said that they believed that the Women’s team was in a position of strength when it came to attracting a new sponsor after winning back to back Olympic Gold Medals. Yet none were found.

The Hockeyroos are in the media at the moment for all the wrong reasons, but as is often the case the problems of today may well have their roots in the past.

After guiding them to two Olympic Gold medals, two World Cups and four Champions Trophies Ric Charlesworth stepped down as coach. He was replaced by David Bell.Two years into his tenure following a fourth place finish at the 2002 World Cup, the team’s worst finish in 16 years, he suggested that not enough was done to develop the next group of players with so many set to retire after Sydney 2000. While he acknowledged that the focus had to be on the team for the Sydney Games in 2000 and a Gold medal for the host nation, he inferred that those at the top had made that their sole focus rather than looking to secure the successful future of the women’s team.

He maybe had a point, as this was the first time that the Hockeyroos had finished without a medal at a major tournament in 10 years. Captain Katrina Powell was quoted at the time as saying “This is only the second time I have competed at a major tournament and not finished with a medal, and they have both been this year.”

She went on to say, “There needs to be answers as to what has gone wrong, it maybe that we are just inexperienced, it may be that the old strikers need to be kicked out. We have have only been together for two years you can’t after that small amount of time to turn around and say that is not working, because we haven’t given it enough time to work.”

A year later they won the Oceania Cup and the Champions Trophy in Sydney beating China in the final. In the round robin they drew with Argentina and beat the Dutch who claimed bronze and silver respectively a year later at the Athens Olympics. Germany took gold and Australia finished fifth.

It is worth mentioning that Hockey Australia Hall of Fame Legend status recipient Alyson Annan was dropped from the squad in 2002 for opting to stay in the Netherlands and play, rather than return to Australia and play in the Australian Hockey League. Concessions had been made in 2001, when she was selected in national teams. Bell said at the time that “such concessions were made because it was the post-Olympics year and it was understood that players need more time away from the game.”

The Olympic result in Athens was cited as the reason for Bell’s time at the helm coming to an end, their fifth place finish equal to their worst.

Frank Murray who had guided the Australian men to a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games and bronze in Atlanta in 1996 and had been Ric Charlesworth’s assistant with the Women at the 2000 Olympics, then took over the reins in October 2004.

They say hindsight is perfect vision, but one wonders what the plans were at this time to try and steer some of the Golden Generation that had been so successful on the pitch into coaching. This passing of the baton has happened in the men’s game so why should it not have happened in the women’s game? Ironically the men appointed to the role were all involved in a period when they did not live up to expectations.

There were a few raised eyebrows in relation to Murray’s appointment. He was coaching at the Western Australian Institute of Sport, and told AAP at the time “Hockey Australia came to me and spoke to me about it and asked me for my views on it all. And in the end they didn’t have anybody else so they spoke to me about whether I was prepared to do it.”

Murray also stated that he was not surprised by the result in Athens when he said “I’m not sure that it wasn’t predictable, the quality of the players wasn’t as good.” He went on to say “I think standards that were there up to 2000 perhaps weren’t there in Athens.” Before adding “It takes time to attract a pool of quality players.There’s certainly quality within the (current) group, but there’s also another group coming through as well. By meshing the teams together, we will start to move forward.”

Murray’s tenure was not a happy one, for many of the players, for the coach, or the team. Murray struggled with the changing world and methods of communication and is said by some to have had a ‘mean streak.’ HIs methods at times have also been described as divisive, with some players in favour and others not.

The only podium finishes during his tenure were silver at the 2006 World Cup, two silver medals at the Champions Trophy and two Commonwealth Games Gold. At the Olympics there was another fifth place finish, as well as first time losses to New Zealand in the Oceania Cup. Following the second Commonwealth Games Gold medal in 2010 Murray stepped down from his role as coach before his contract came to an end. He felt that he had lost the support of several senior players and earlier in the year one of his coaches quit just before the World Cup.

Clearly there were issues within the camp at that time, were they faced and dealt with? Or were they left for the next incumbent to deal with?

It was not the ideal time to try and find a new coach with most locked in for a four year Olympic Cycle. Hockey Australia opted for a younger man in Adam Commens who started in 2011. He made immediate changes to the squad.

Results were again not what many expected of a team regarded by many as one of Australia’s best international sporting teams. The best results were silver at the 2014 World Cup followed by a silver at the Champions Trophy in the same year. At the Olympics in 2012 the team finished fifth and then in Rio in 2016 an unthinkable 6th.

The Commens era also came to an ugly end, with the coach who had already opted to leave being sacked for inappropriate behaviour at the Olympic Games. Once again following his departure stories of a split group came to light. Some of the players were more affected by events that transpired than others. Hockey Australia launched an investigation, which incredibly found that apart from misconduct by the coach there was nothing else wrong.

Paul Gaudoin was then handed the reins. Probably more so than any of the coaches before him he has felt the heat in the past year. How much of that heat is a legacy of what has gone before?

Now four years on the continual failure to address the issues within the program appear to have come to a head.

Players who have put their lives on hold to pursue excellence in sport and bring pride to the nation have had enough, and some ex players and some current players have had the courage to speak up. Just think for a moment the courage it takes to speak out in such circumstances, and ask whether you would have had the courage to do that. These people care. The reason they have spoken is because they care, and they are passionate about the team they have been honoured to represent.

The dropping of Rachael Lynch who a year ago was crowned the FIH World Goalkeeper of the year has brought embarrassment to Hockey Australia across the world. It is a fact of modern day sport that a coach has to explain the reasons why a player is left out. When you drop a player deemed the best in the world you have to understand that there will be questions asked.

If Lynch has done something wrong then tell the world. Then give her the opportunity to defend herself. If she has been too vocal is that really an issue and has it really undermined the team? Surely this is what management is all about? Sorting out such issues, and ensuring that you are able to field the best team irrespective of personalities. Lynch is a senior player at 34 years of age and has been a part of the team for 14 years. What is more she has a career away from Hockey, so has a work/life balance that many of her team mates do not have. Therefore she is possibly in a better place to speak than many others.

Apparently the evening before the announcement that she was no longer to be part of the squad she received a phone call telling her of the decision. Is that how a player who has made a record number of appearances for her country should be told? Surely common decency and respect says that a conversation should be held face-to-face?

There have been some awful comments made on social media since the announcement was made; some from a fake account since deleted. In one the writer wrote that they hated the “entitlement” of the players and that they needed to remember that they are “professional athletes.”

This is maybe where some of the problem lies within the program. The administrators and the coaches are all full time employees. The players are not. They are not even professional athletes in the way most sports fans view a professional athlete. Yes they train every day and are totally committed, but they are not paid a salary commensurate with that commitment. The Hockeyroos, like the Kookaburras players receive scholarships. These scholarships in the Hockeyroos case see them receive between AUD$200-250 per week. An amount that would hardly cover their petrol if they lived North of the River in Perth and not near the Hockey Stadium. They do receive bonuses based on tournament success and world rankings but they do not receive a salary.

If they were, as this person claimed, “professional athletes” they would be paid a far greater wage, they would be entitled to holiday pay and superannuation.They forego all of that to play a sport they love at the highest level and represent their nation. It is their choice, but it is unreasonable to question their commitment, especially when they are not paid professional athletes.

There was also talk on social media that Rachael Lynch failed to attend training. Not The Footy Show has enquired regarding this but has not been able to gain an answer. As mentioned, she has a full time job, and as a qualified nurse has been working in the Covid space. Surely that was something that could have been used as a plus rather than a negative? Here is a young player who has played over 200 games for her country, is the world’s best, but has no airs and graces and who wants to do her bit to help the community. To many she epitomises the ideal role model. Maybe that is why there has been such an outcry.

We saw back in 2002 an inflexibility with Alyson Annan, is this not history repeating? Alyson Annan is now the coach of the World Number one side the Netherlands. Imagine the benefit to Australian hockey had she been allowed to play in the Netherlands and then come back and share the knowledge she had gained with her younger team mates. Who knows the impact that could have had on the next generation. Maybe the drop in success after Sydney would not have been so sudden.

The fact that these players are not professional should never be forgotten. When Telstra were on board as a sponsor they held leadership courses for the players to prepare them for a life after hockey. Are such courses being held for the players today?

Former Kookaburra Simon Orchard wrote a telling piece in Hockey World News where he wrote the jarring truth, “depending on which country you’re from – people quickly forget what you achieved on the field when you enter the real world.”

He then went on to write “The world does not wait for you to finish your hockey career and roll out the red carpet. It sees a resume devoid of work experience. A CV padded out with sporting achievements. And rival candidates with 5-10 years of hustle behind them.You might get lucky and jag a job based on your sporting ability – but chances are you’ll have to start all over again at the bottom of the pile.”

Are Hockey Australia asking its scholarship holders what is important to them in life, and working with them to make that area a success and prepare them for a life after hockey? These individuals are nearly all driven, so most would throw themselves into anything that makes them better on and off the pitch. Surely this makes sense as it is a known fact that people who are happy perform better. Unfortunately it would appear that these athletes have been seen merely as moveable commodities for too long. Their voice has not been heard and it appears that they have had enough.

If there was one lesson to come out of all of this, it is that it no longer makes any sense whatsoever to have the Hockey Australia offices based in Melbourne and the High Performance unit in Perth; some have crazily suggested that Hockey Australia has manufactured this situation to give cause to relocate the High Performance unit to Melbourne! (Time to Support A Successful Sporting Institution) With communications the way they are today there is no longer a need to have the head office in Melbourne. The excuse years ago was that the sponsors came from the East Coast, well the naming rights sponsors for both teams now are from Western Australia.

Proof of that distance was apparent in CEO Matt Favier’s interview on ABC Grandstand when he was asked to respond to comments from ex Hockeyroo Hayley Padget, where she said “the coach didn’t speak to me for three months and I have never felt less valued in my life.” His answer was “I wasn’t there day to day so I can’t and won’t comment on what one player may have experienced or said towards our program.”

Is that acceptable? As the head of an organisation the buck stops with you. You need to be across such issues. Yet Mr Favier and his predecessors being so far away would appear not to have had their finger on the pulse. Of course the get-out clause is that the players are not Hockey Australia staff, so they can distance themselves from them. They are scholarship holders. However does that make it right?

The point here is that the administration is too far away from the coalface. Administration after administration, and board after board have dismissed the rumblings which started almost twenty years ago as being overstated because being so far away they are not there to see for themselves. They also choose to speak only to those they know will tell them what they want to hear. What is it they say the three wise monkeys represent?

Two years ago a letter was sent to Head Office signed by the whole Hockeyroos squad bar three players, airing concerns. The issues in the letter we are advised have not been addressed and so the issue has continued. Now another letter has been sent following the announcement of the 2021 squad, again we believe signed by all of the 2020 squad bar three players. Will this letter be addressed?

Having initially said that there were no issues within the program when news stations started carrying stories claiming the atmosphere was “toxic” Hockey Australia has now confirmed it has launched an internal enquiry, to be carried out by an independent third party. This should not be necessary, as it should never have reached this stage.

To the public the Matildas, the Australian women’s Football team and the Australian Womens Cricket team have now moved ahead of the Hockeyroos as the pre-eminent womens sporting team, despite the Hockeyroos still being ranked number two in the world. Both of these teams have seen a huge injection of funds in the past 20 years and the players in these sports can now earn a living from their sport. So is it time Hockey finds a way to enable its players to be professional too?

The form of the team in the past four years looks to be a repeat of the previous eight, silver at the 2018 Champions Trophy and the FIH Pro League Finals in 2019, fourth at the World Cup, silver at the Oceania Cup and also the Commonwealth Games.

Is the talent there? Is it being developed? Clearly the passion is there from this group of players, if they can use these times to pull together as a unit who knows what they can achieve. Yet one thing they would do well to remember, in all sports the great teams keep everything in house. That is one of the reasons they are successful.