FROM HOCKEY AUSTRALIA
Hockey Australia is pleased to announce the men’s and women’s national coaching appointments for the next four year Olympic cycle have been finalised.
Richard Charlesworth, arguably Australia’s most credentialed player and coach ever, will take on the role as coach of the men’s national team following the retirement of Barry Dancer who lead the Kookaburras through the last two Olympic campaigns.
Frank Murray has maintained his position as coach of the women’s Hockeyroos team after taking on the role in 2004 and leading the team through the last Olympic cycle.
Charlesworth’s remarkable credentials stack up like very few others, making him an ideal candidate to lead the Kookaburras.
While this will be his first tenure coaching the men’s team, his coaching history is impeccable, leading the Hockeyroos through one of the most successful periods of any sporting team in Australian history. At the helm of the Hockeyroos from 1993-2000, his reign as coach saw the team win the 1993, 1997 and 1999 Champions Trophies, 1994 and 1998 World Cups and the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Most famously, Charlesworth took the Hockeyroos to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics where the team won back to back gold medals.
A four time Olympic hockey athlete from 1972-1988 (he was also selected in the 1980 Olympic team however did not compete due to Australia’s team withdrawal), his sporting career has not only been limited to hockey.
Charlesworth acted as a High Performance Consultant for the Fremantle Football Club from 2001-2002 whilst also taking on the duties as a mentor coach for the Australian Institute of Sport.
His expertise was then put to use as the High Performance Manager for the New Zealand cricket team, while recently he has been associated with the Indian Hockey Federation as the Technical Adviser.
The appointment of Charlesworth as coach of the Kookaburras has seemingly been years in the making, with the newly appointed coach admitting he has been interested in the job for several years.
“I was asked if I wanted to do the job in 2000, but I needed a break from coaching. I was thinking that in 2004 I would go back but the job wasn’t available then. I’ve been watching the team’s performance in recent time but I was doing other things and the opportunity wasn’t there,” said Charlesworth.
Charlesworth said his focus will essentially be on building a new team following the many retirements which have occurred since the Beijing Olympics.
“The team changes all the time and the team which played in Beijing will never play together again. The job really is about building a new team and only a handful of the players playing now will be under 30 at the next Olympics. I think in terms of the program, there were a lot of good things that were happening. So you want to keep those things going and then you want to add and embellish those areas that need improvement. I think you can identify some of those but in the end if you want to be successful you need good players so development of individuals and building a new team, that’s the critical part.”
Frank Murray’s reappointment as coach of the Hockeyroos comes after he considered a senior management role within the High Performance Unit.
However after consideration, Murray’s desire to coach remained strong, as he is eager to carry on the impressive form shown at the Beijing Olympics.
Click HERE to listen to audio from both Ric Charlesworth & Frank Murray.
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October 3rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
WA hockey is in good hands…. I mean Australian! Woops
October 4th, 2008 at 10:27 am
How does Murray get the job again after the team finishes 5th in Beijing?
October 6th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
“However after consideration, Murray’s desire to coach remained strong, as he is eager to carry on the impressive form shown at the Beijing Olympics.”
Impressive form??? Did I miss something? This article (from HA) reads as though it was Murray’s own decision as to whether he was re-appointed or not. Typically pathetic.
This guy has an amazing record of underachievement, at all levels – but he must be some sort of politician.
The bottom line is that a public statement was made by HA to the effect that the womens needed to get a medal in Beijing for Murray to retain his position. They didn’t – in fact they were nowhere near it – yet he got reappointed anyway.
And then for HA to issue a release that suggests ‘good form’ at the games is a joke.
It seems that there is one very good reason for HA to keep a low media profile – anything else would put the administration under the level of scrutiny that would require them to justify the government funding (let alone their constituent subscriptions).
Murray is a joke.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Murray is a joke – I’m sure Frank is petrified of your educated opinions but it is hard to make a case for the guy when they finish 5th and after the same result in Athens, David Bell was shown the door.
The biggesr issue for me is that outside of few people on this forum who you could list as ‘hockey tragics’, no one seems to care who gets appointed as national coach. Why?
October 13th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Any word as to why Chris Spice missed out when it was reported he had the job?
October 20th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I want to know how Frank Murray can justify dropping his best player Peter Gallagher, Who was named in the world team, not only from the team but the entire squad… Throwing away australia’s best player causing a tragic episode at the olympics and still manages to get the job back.
Not only is it Frank, but the politics in Hockey Australia is rediculous, the coach of the under 21′s national squad Mark Hagar didnt get reappointed as soon as charlesworth came back….
Its turning hockey australia into a dictatorship… One person, one decision, costing our sport…