Things have been moving in the right direction for South African Hockey in the past few months with qualification for the World League Semi-Finals, getting the sponsorship of Mugg & Bean on board and now the announcement that interim coach, Charlie Pereira, has been given the post on a full time basis.
Charlie was the interim manager for the World League Qualifier when he led a “Justin Reid-Ross-less” and sponsor-less men’s side to the World League Semi Final. Of course at this time it was an interim appointment as the future of Greg Clark was very much undecided. But Pereira has earned great praise from the men in the team, with one of them personally telling me that his impact was immediate and very positive.
“It’s an honour to be appointed head coach of the national men’s team and I look forward to working with the rest of the management team as there is a lot of work for us to do to get ready for Malaysia,” Pereira said.
SA Hockey Association CEO Marissa Langeni also named the management team.
“The coaching staff for the senior men’s team is being appointed up until the conclusion of the 2014 Commonwealth Games,” Langeni said.
“The panel gives SA Hockey a pool of individuals to work with at various stages as part of our strategy to grow the base. Prior to any tour SAHA will continue to announce the Tour Management in consultation with the Head Coach on a project basis, so not all will travel with the team at any one time,” Langeni added.
All Things Jabu would like to congratulate Charlie on his appointment and we look forward to how you take South African Hockey forward. We will be interviewing Charlie on his appointment in the coming weeks.
SA MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM MANAGEMENT
Head Coach: Charlie Pereira
Trainers: Craig Fulton, Kurt Cerfontyne, Pierre le Roux, Darryn Gallagher
Sports Science – Conditioning Coach: Robin van Ginkel
Managers: Reggie Smith, Martin van Staden, Anton van Rooyen
Selectors: Igsaan Ajam, David Viney, Bruce Jacobs, Allistar Fredericks
Video Analysts: Mo Malebye, Wayne Hendricks, Jamie Kroukamp
Upcoming International Hockey Federation (FIH) events
World League semi-finals in Malaysia, June 29 to July 7.
Africa Cup in Kenya, Sept 27 to Oct 5.