Dual Olympic gold medallist Katrina Powell has been locked in as Hockeyroos coach and will lead the Australian women’s team through to the Paris Games in 2024.
Canberra-born Powell stepped in on as interim basis in March to oversee the Hockeyroos’ Tokyo Olympic campaign after then coach Paul Gaudoin quit on the eve of a release of a review into the program’s “toxic culture”.
The first female Hockeyroos head coach since Colleen Quinn in 1978, Powell led Australia to win all five of group stage matches in Tokyo before a shock 1-0 loss to India in the quarter-finals.
Powell had to front a selection panel that included Olympic gold medal-winning coach Barry Dancer, 1988 Olympic gold medallist Hockeyroo Sally Carbon and newly appointed high performance director Bernard Savage and after a five-week process got the nod.
Ross Sudano, who chaired the selection panel, said Powell won the role ahead of internationally-based candidates.
“Katrina was appointed on the back of her ability and an assessment of her skill-set,” Sudano said in a statement.
“She is strongly passionate and connected to achieve success with the Hockeyroos and has demonstrated an ability to build trust within a high performance environment.
Powell has held various coaching roles since 2005, after a decorated playing career which included 252 games and 141 goals for the Hockeyroos.
Powell said the Tokyo experience whet her appetite to continue what she started.
“I’m really excited, normally the Olympics is the end of a cycle but Tokyo felt like the start of something,”Powell said.
“With the time leading up to Paris being a shortened period, it feels like we have already started the work that needs to be done to be successful.
“Some of the group matches in Tokyo showed what is possible.
“There are a lot of talented players not only in the current Hockeyroos squad but who are knocking on the door.”
Powell will relocate to Perth from Sydney with next year’s FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games looming.
AAP
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