Setting New Goals

When writing Australia’s Hockey Grail about the Australian Men’s Hockey team’s quest for Olympic Gold, and a nation’s expectation that they will deliver, a common theme arose. Players of every generation stated how when the Olympics, a World Cup or a Commonwealth Games came around suddenly everyone wanted to be on the Kookaburras train. Suddenly the media wanted a piece of the action when they had not given the team, players or tournament successes in between these events a mention.

To show just how fickle the media can be, in Rio Australia’s most successful male player and a man afforded the accolade of being the International Hockey Federation’s World Player of the year five times, a feat unmatched, Jamie Dwyer, had the final moments of his last international taken away from Australian viewers as Channel Seven left the Hockey to cover another event. The reason was Australia bowed out in the newly arranged quarter-finals so there was no medal at stake; to be fair they would not have made the semi finals in the traditional format either. The same was true of the Hockeyroos.

However here was a man who had won it all on the world stage, Olympic Gold, World Cup Gold, Commonwealth Games Gold as well as six Champions Trophies. He had also won numerous individual awards and in 2011, had been inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport’s ‘Best of the Best’. He is arguably one of Australia’s greatest ever sportsmen. Yet he was not afforded the respect of having the last moments of his last game aired.

Fast forward to now and suddenly hockey is in the press on an almost daily basis. As we all know sports news is thin on the ground in these Covid times, so this story has been lapped up. Sadly, as is the way with the modern day press it is not a good news story. It is in fact the opposite. Each day we read more about how the women’s program has allegedly let down its athletes.

After claiming there was no need for an internal inquiry Hockey Australia did a backflip and then announced that there would be one. Even when this was announced it met with negative press. First of all because two men were carrying out the inquiry, then there were alleged links between those carrying out the inquiry and those employed or on the Board of Hockey Australia. These concerns have now led to Sport Integrity Australia becoming involved. A move that Hockey Australia stated was “established to complement the current inquiry and add an additional layer of independence.”

While it is understandable that Hockey Australia is loathe to talk publically at the moment, and it is prudent to remember that during these times it is better to say less, one feels that the organization is missing an opportunity to restore faith.

No one at this stage knows the outcome of the inquiry. It was to be completed on the 18th of December. Yet remarkably for something that is clearly very time sensitive the recommendations and findings will not be announced publicly until February, even though they will be given to Hockey Australia prior to that date.

In the meantime one feels that there is an opportunity to set out a plan of action based on a worst and best case scenario.

For a start it makes little or no sense to be holding the appeals of former Captain Georgina Morgan and Rachael Lynch who were dropped from the squad prior to the publishing of the finding of the inquiry. If their appeals for re-instatement are rejected, yet the inquiry finds that they were unjustifiably dropped Hockey Australia will once again find itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Therefore surely it makes more sense to postpone these hearings until the inquiry has been completed?

Some may say that decisions on a plan of action should be kept in house, however when a situation has played out as publicly as this has you have to be on the front foot. You must show that you are not a reactive organization, that you are proactive.

Hypothetically the worst-case scenario is going to play out two ways. Individuals involved with the coaching of the Hockeyroos could lose their jobs if the inquiry finds that some of the accusations made in the press are true. If the inquiry finds that the coaches have acted fairly and have no case to answer, some players may carry out their threat to step down from the national team, some may even be asked to leave the program.

Either outcome is going to create a very awkward situation.

As we have read in the press Hockey Australia has been pushing for players to sign their Athlete Agreements. These are the agreements that trigger their payments as scholarship holders. It is believed that the Sport Australia (formerly the Australian Sports Commission) is the one pushing for the agreements to be signed so that they can sign off on the finances for Hockey.

Either way in the current climate would it not make more sense to say to Sport Australia, can we hold off at this point in time until we resolve the outstanding issues? Those athletes who were part of the 2020 program continuing to receive their allowance until the end of the year, as long as they continue to train.

If the coaching staff are relieved of their duties as a result of the findings in the inquiry, that will imply that some of the issues raised were legitimate. It may also cast a shadow over selections of the past.

If a new coach is to be found surely they will want to start with a clean slate? In which case they will not wish to inherit such an unhappy and clearly divided squad.

The integrity and what is best for the Hockeyroos moving forward has to be paramount. Therefore despite the cost, should not another set of trials be held for the incoming coach to decide whom they want in their squad not just for the Tokyo Olympics but also as part of the rebuilding process?

Players should be told prior to this trial what they will be judged upon, and if possible less value should be placed on past glories and reputations. To show that this really is a new regime and a starting over those who left the program in recent times should be given the option as to whether they wished to try and return to the squad. They too should then be permitted to play in the trials.

Of course if you were to go down this path what of the new players added to the Hockeyroos squad? They have done nothing wrong, have not been a part of any of the unrest, so some would argue and quite reasonably that their places should be safe in the squad. To shatter their dreams at this point in time would simply create a whole new set of issues. So their places should be made safe.

If it means that moving forward for the next year the Hockeyroos squad is two players larger, the so be it. Where there is a will there is a way, and the money can be found.
Of course going through this process is not going to correct the ongoing issues that have been within the program for the past 12 years. It will take time to fix these and put new structures and possibly new staff in place. (Paying A Price For The Past)

In order to right the ship any player remaining with the program must be involved with and buy into these changes.

Lily Brazel in her brilliantly written piece in World Hockey News titled “Going Upstream” wrote the following:

“When I look across at my male counterparts, the Kookaburras, I see the opposite. I see voices being heard and opinions being acknowledged and applied. I see collaboration between players and staff. I see balance between hockey and life. I see training times that allow for careers away from the field. I see staff suited to the players needs. I see a group of men who love what they do and respect everyone around them. When I see them I always wonder why we can’t be more like them?”

Sadly a change in personnel is not going to result in that change overnight. Ask anyone involved within the Kookaburras program and they will tell you that they have worked very hard to get to the position they are currently in. They continue to work hard to make sure that all of those aspects are working and the team culture is a healthy one.

Sometimes that means that there are hard conversations to be had with individuals. These conversations are not personal; they are part of the process to enable the group to achieve their goals.

So each and every player selected for the Hockeyroos moving forward has to buy in to working on a daily basis to improve the program, not just for themselves but also for those who follow them. They have to accept that some criticism may feel personal but in fact is being made for the good of the whole. As the All Blacks rugby team have instilled it is about leaving a legacy, and leaving the team in a better position when you leave than when you arrived.

This is about the collective and not individuals. It is about learning to tell the difference between goals and dreams and separating the two.

Dreams are things that we hope to achieve and are often things that we have no control over. Many dream of going to an Olympic Games but few will realise that dream. Goals are achievable. These are things that individually or as a team you can work hard and make happen. Having a list of goals and gradually ticking them off one by one is a great way of measuring success and progress. Whatever the outcomes it would appear that the group need to reset their goals for the future; Goals that are not just results based.

Whether the coaches stay or go once the inquiry is finished and the results are published, changes are clearly going to have to be made. Some individuals will be lost to the program. Yet media attention will no doubt still be focused on the team once again looking for negative reaction. So what is the plan to limit that exposure?

The logical approach would be to take the team out of the public eye for a short period of time.

The ideal situation would have been to head overseas and play a series of matches away from the Australian press. That may not be possible, but one feels that in order to reset as a group they will need to go somewhere to recalibrate not only as a unit, but also their goals on and off the pitch. For it will be those players who stay that are going to be a vital part of the rebuilding process, as well as restoring the Hockeyroos to being a brand that is respected and lauded, not just in Australia but across the globe.

Hopefully the Board and Hockey Australia staff is working through plans for each possible scenario, so that when the results of the inquiry are released swift action can be taken and changes made for the betterment of all, but most importantly the game.

They may wish to keep these plans under wraps, which is again understandable but as an organization they need to be on the front foot at this time in order to start restoring public faith.

A wise man in business once said ‘everyone makes mistakes, the difference between the good companies and the bad is the speed with which you acknowledge your mistake and how quickly you correct it.”