Australian Hockey5s coaches appointed ahead of selection camp

Another major piece of the puzzle for Australia’s Hockey5s teams has been completed with the appointment of the national Women’s and Men’s coaches.

Alistair Park (pictured above) has been appointed the national Men’s Hockey5s coach, with Keegan Popowski named to head up the Women’s Hockey5s program.

An Educator and Director of Hockey Coaching at Wesley College in South Perth, Park was an assistant coach with the Perth Thundersticks before being the men’s team’s coach for the inaugural season of the Hockey One League.

As a player, he was part of the Burras (Australian U21 Men’s) Squad between 2002 and 2004 and played for the Thundersticks for a decade.

Park said guiding an Australian team on the international stage and playing a part in building profile of the Hockey5s format is ‘an adventure’ he is excited to take on.

“Regardless of what pursuit you’re looking to be involved in, to represent your country is a massive deal so that’s a starting point of what attracted me to the role,” said Park.

“Hockey5s is very much in its infancy and it has massive appeal in terms of highlighting all the great things about hockey – scoring goals, showing off one on one skills, and getting a good look at a format that is really evolving.”

“I’m looking forward to working with some really good athletes who are keen to improve, embrace a new challenge and see where they can go with it.”

“Something exciting about getting into it at the ground floor is that you can make it your own and help players grow and make the most of the opportunity.”

Popowski is currently the Coaching Manager of the Toowoomba Hockey Association. His coaching experience includes being Head Coach of Tasmania’s Open Women’s Indoor team as well as being involved in a coaching capacity with Tasmania’s U18 Men’s Team for four years with a three-year stint with Derwent Hockey Club’s Premier League Women’s team.

Having attended last year’s Country Championships and this year’s Indoor Championships – the two events the national Hockey5s squads were selected from – he already has a knowledge and understanding of the players he will be working with.

“It’s an exciting list and a good challenge and opportunity to lead a national team to success,” said Popowski.

“All the concepts we know from the 11-a-side format aren’t really the same in Hockey5s, so it makes for a lot of exciting discussions.

“I feel like I am across most of the players and we’ll have to fast track about those non negotiables such as can they stay in a contest, can they shoot on both sides because in Hockey5s with the pace of the game and being able to score from anywhere, these are important attributes to have. I’m excited to see how they go.”

The duo’s appointments come ahead of the national Hockey5s selection camp being held in Warrnambool on 22-23 April, where Park and Popowski will both attend.

“I don’t have any expectations heading to the camp. Like in life, you have to be careful putting expectations on anything because it can limit what you want to get out of it,” said Park.

“I will be going there with eyes wide open to see what the athletes have to offer. They are the ones on the pitch and the ones who will have to solve the problems in front of them, so it will very much be about embracing how they want to go about it and what they are going to build…this camp will be the first step in that journey.”

Popowski said, “The camp is an opportunity to prove myself as a coach for the players - so I’m keen to get stuck in and be heavily involved over the two days.”

The camp will see the players selected to compete at the Oceania World Cup Qualifiers being held in July. The Hockey5s World Cup is scheduled for Oman in 2024.

The final squads of 12 selected from the camp in Warrnambool will comprise 10 field players and two goalkeepers.

The support and commitment from Hockey Australia to hold the trials at Warrnambool's regional facility is recognition to the members of Hockey South West and their efforts over the past 12 months to introduce and drive development of Hockey5s in the region.

As part of the camp, the athletes and coaches will assist in conducting a clinic for the local Under 12 hockey academy on Sunday afternoon.

Australian Hockey5s Selection Camp
22-23 April 2023
Warrnambool District Hockey Association (Cramer Street, Warrnambool)
Times: Saturday 1pm-5pm AEST, Sunday 8am-12pm
The camps are open and free to the public.