The President of the South African Hockey Association on the state of the game in the country, where he would like to see hockey in 10 years’ time, and some of his personal interests.
Q: What’s your hockey-playing background?
A: I started playing as a junior at club and then school level and made the national teams for both. I played provincial clubs and SA U23, I coached men’s and ladies’ teams, umpired and sat tech table for many years. I also managed provincial men’s teams and the SA men’s team for five years.
Q: As President, what are your areas of responsibility and how are these different from what the CEO covers?
A: The President is ultimately accountable for hockey in South Africa. That includes managing the SAHA executive board and council meetings where all the members meet to review the current state of hockey in the country and the way forward. Also, formulating and communicating the strategy and building relationships with all stakeholders are key to this role. The CEO is in the execution of the above and runs the office. The President is accountable, whilst the CEO is responsible.
Q: How would you describe the state of hockey in South Africa?
A: It really depends on the topic. Overall, hockey is well and in a very exciting phase. Our national teams are competing at the highest levels, our inter-provincial tournament was this past weekend and we had very good attendance in both A and B divisions. Club hockey is seeing quite a bit of positive change in terms of new teams/clubs winning leagues, which speaks to growth and our Modified Hockey is growing at a rate that we did not expect. SAHA Project Manager Gary Dolley has travelled to so many new areas to expose hockey at foundation phase and has upskilled educators to ensure more and more children are getting exposure to the game, and this is very exciting to see. We are having very good stakeholder engagements at all levels – government, sponsors, provincial Presidents, players, etc. Hockey is the third-most-watched sport and it shows the potential that sits within the game. So, exciting times.
Q: What do you believe is key to growing participation in hockey in SA?
A: The growth strategy being implemented within the provinces; buy-in from relevant stakeholders based on their areas of influence; sponsorship for the various initiatives.
Q: What does a result like the men’s team’s fourth at the recent Commonwealth Games do for hockey in SA?
A: It develops belief that it is possible to compete at international level. The fact that our men’s team is representative in its composition allows the young up-and-coming athletes to aspire to representing their country in hockey. It should attract greater interest from a sponsorship perspective.
Q: How healthy is the current sponsorship investment in SA hockey?
A: It is not healthy at all, but in saying that, the sponsors that are onboard have helped us perform on the world stage and we are eternally grateful for their contributions.
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Q: Give us a sense of what sponsorship investment in hockey allows you to do for the sport in SA?
A: It affords us the opportunity to develop better citizens within our country. We obviously want more people to play hockey, but more importantly, the team sport develops skills within people that you cannot often find in classrooms. The Modified Hockey program deals with foundational phase skills development that goes beyond the game of hockey. The program is structured to develop key skills for the human being and if they continue to play hockey, that is a bonus. Hockey is also known as a game that can be played from “cradle to grave”. We have mini-hockey and Modified Hockey structures that cater for the toddlers and then on the other extreme we have Grand Masters that caters for the 60 years-plus. We hosted the first ever World Cup on African soil in April, in Potchefstroom, and this showcased our ability to host events of this magnitude. This would not have been possible without sponsors coming onboard.
Q: Where would you like to see hockey in South Africa in 10 years’ time?
A: That we have mass participation of the game at all levels, be it for a recreational or competitive side. Our national teams ranked in the top 10 in the world in all formats of the game (Outdoor, Indoor and Hockey 5’s). That SAHA has its own facility where they have offices and infrastructure to support all formats of the game.
Q: On a personal note, what other sports do you follow and who are your favourite players and teams?
A: I enjoy sports overall and play a few codes of sport still both competitively and socially. There are so much we can learn from individual sports like tennis and karate, as well as team sports such as cricket and rugby. I must however mention that my English football team is Liverpool.
Q: Away from sport, how do you like to spend your spare time?
A: Family and friends are very important to me, as well as my faith. That is where I spend all my spare time.
