Heading into the LA 2028 cycle, GB Hockey is at a crossroads with the roles of Performance Director lying vacant and Zak Jones taking the men’s head coach role on an interim basis.
England’s women start their FIH Pro League campaign in 58 days time on 1 December and the men get underway on 11 December.
In the final part of our exclusive, Paul Revington, the ongoing men’s head coach, reflects on his own future and that of the GB programme.
Do you feel you are leaving GB Hockey in a stronger place than you found it?
I would hope so. I think every coach needs to do that, if you come in, you play your part and you do your job. I do believe that the programme is in a healthy place for the next person to grab the baton and the squad need to grab the baton and keep going as well. They’ve got enough players remaining and returning after a couple of months’ breather.
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Still difficult to understand his decision. If he wishes to continue as an international coach, as he seems to indicate, why does he not want to do so with Eng/GBR with whom he appeared to have a natural affinity?
He’s achieved a lot during his short time in charge and made GBR/Eng teams exciting to watch and capable of beating any team on their day. Does he feel he’s taken the team(s) as far as he can? If so, it’s a concern.
Are the GBR management team or structure an issue: the recent decison, subsequently retracted, to appoint Danny Kerry – not a success as men’s coach – as performance director above him suggests confused thinking. Is future funding, following the Olympics relative under-performance, likely to be inadequate?
Ultimately, GBR men should be aiming to attain the consistency at least of a team like Belgium, who with far fewer resources have been producing top class teams for the last 10-15 years and winning all of hockey’s highest honours.
The challenge now is to find a coach who can take performance to the next level. Will be interesting to see who is appointed.