‘Women can make men’s breakthrough’
Maasdorp believes that a female coach will soon breakthrough with a men’s side in domestic hockey. Within the Investec Premier Division, half the sides are now coached by women, while the men’s top flight is still male led. “I’d love to see the day when that happens with the men and I genuinely think that will happen,” said Maasdorp.
The South African will take time out before deciding on her next role, although she is still co-coach of the England under-18 squad. Her fellow coach, Sarah Kelleher, revealed last week that she applied for the Ireland women’s coaching role left vacant by Graham Shaw – which went to Australian Sean Dancer – while she also went for a role within GB Hockey but was told that there were no interviews as officials “knew enough about the candidates applying.”
She told the Irish Examiner: “Often as an individual you can feel, ‘Is it me?’ But then you hear from other female coaches and other voices and it’s not. We need more stories, more voices.” In response, Maasdorp believed that the right coaches tended to get the right jobs and admitted that she had never faced any personal bias. However, she said: “I’d love Holcombe’s next coach to be female but I’m highly doubtful that would be the case.”
FIH Pro League sees postponements
The length of the FIH Pro League’s – six months – has left the global league in disarray following the decision by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand to postpone international travel for its teams ahead of the European legs after the coronavirus outbreak.
The Hockeyroos, who are facing a funding cut of up to 60 per cent following Tokyo 2020, have already had matches in China postponed and will now have their scheduled clashes with Germany and Holland this month put on hold alongside the Kookaburras.
Meanwhile, Argentina will be assessing the global situation in the coming weeks before deciding on their European tour, which includes a double header against Great Britain at The Stoop in May. A spokesperson told Telegraph Sport: “Our teams are returning from the Oceania and our next matches are in 67 days. We are going to analyse how the global situation of the coronavirus evolves and the recommendations of the specialists to define the decision.”
