Twenty one high performance coaches from around the globe descended upon the Lee Valley Hockey Centre at the Olympic Park in London, England.
Among those participating were two coaches who will be well known to followers of hockey over the past 20 years – Jorgelina Rimoldi and Laura del Colle – two Olympians and former members of Las Leonas hockey team. Jorgelina won silver with Argentina at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, while Laura was also a silver medalist – at London 2012 – as well as a gold medalist at the 2012 Champions Trophy, which took place in her home town of Rosario.
The two Argentine coaches were part of a 21-strong group of high performance coaches who gathered for a week of coach education run by the FIH Hockey Academy and its associated partners.
The coaches divided their time in England between Loughborough University, which is partnering the FIH in much of its development work, and the Lee Valley Hockey Centre. The course was run by educators and course organizers from FIH Hockey Academy and partnering organizations, such as hosts England Hockey and Coach Logic – who have recently partnered with the Hockey Academy and were on hand with advice about video analysis.
“We came from all over the world, representing 18 different countries,” said Laura. “This is the first time FIH has tried a course on this scale, with so many different nationalities working together. We have had workshops, theory sessions, video analysis as well as watching many of the international games taking place. We were kept very busy: for example, while watching the games, we were given a topic to analyze, which we then fed back to the group later via a presentation.”
One of Jorgelina’s topics to present back to the group was how to effectively hit a free hit into the ‘D’. “It was fantastic to observe the match because, when I was later explaining the reasons behind my analysis, we had all seen the match live together, so all the other coaches knew what I was talking about – it gave a relevance to my analysis, which would not have been so simple to communicate had the group not seen the same match and the same incidents,” she explained.
Not surprisingly, goalkeeper Laura’s topic was defence into the ‘D’. She says: “I watched the defence of all six teams that were playing here and I was pleased to see that all the teams were doing similar things to the coaching I do at the moment. It made me realize that all the teams are continuously developing and it confirmed I am doing the right things.”
Jorgelina added: “We also had some ‘surprise’ topics, which taught us to really think on our feet. One topic we had plenty of time to prepare, but for the other topic, it was sprung upon us to test our ability to react to a situation. That was tough. I had to analyze Holland, with and without the ball.”
She explained that she loves the Netherland’s system of play, so spending time watching and analyzing was a real pleasure. ‘They make squares all over the pitch,” she says. “So they defend as a unit and then, when they win possession, they pass the ball around in these tight formations – it is so lovely to watch.
“I also watched New Zealand, they work on a pivot to put pressure on the ball. It is really nice to see the contrast between Argentina – which I know very well – and the other teams.”
As the two women enthuse about the coaching course, the conversation sparkled. Laura cuts in at one point to talk about the beauty of sharing knowledge across continents: “It is so interesting to watch the different cultures and how that affects the style of play. Pakistan is so different; Japan again, so different. There are people here from different countries and different continents and there are surprising amounts of differences between them. But we are all here talking about hockey in different countries, but in a common language.”
For Laura, the surprise topic had a touch of the familiar about it. “My surprise topic was to analyze the midfield of Argentina. That was lucky, because just four years ago I was playing alongside them in the 2012 Olympics, so I know them well. There are some new players, but on the whole I knew what they were doing and why.”
Both coaches agreed that the most interesting and important thing they got from the course was the feedback from educators and the other coaches. “It makes you think about how you are teaching and how you are improving as a coach,” says Laura. “Your coach educator makes you think about your coaching style. The coaching sessions, the workshops, the analysis - all these things have made me think of different ways to coach at my club or teach at my university.”
While the course is great development for Jorgelina and Laura, the underlying aim is to help develop coaching and hockey across the Pan American region. Following this course, both women will be involved in a range of coaching activities, both in Argentina and in neighboring countries.
Jorgelina is heavily involved in hockey development through her work at San Fernando Hockey club, where she coaches several teams, as well as her work as a development officer with the national hockey federation. Laura, who lectures at Rosario University, coaches her students, shows school teachers how to coach hockey and is running a goalkeeping academy. Both women have also coached in developing hockey nations such as Guatemala and Bolivia, and will continue to do so.
“We are developing ourselves as coaches, identifying where we need to improve,” explains Laura, after receiving her FIH Level 3 certificate.
“I just need to speak better English,” laughs Jorgelina in response. “The courses are run in English, which makes it difficult for me sometimes.
“From a coaching perspective, the feedback I give my players needs to make them think more. When I coach, I tend to tell them what to do, but there is no ‘why?’ ‘Why do you make that pass? Why did you make that run?’ Here we are being encouraged to make the players think about the game a lot more.”
“We don’t want players who just work within systems. As coaches, we should aim to make the players think and make their own decision on the pitch,” adds Laura.
The two coaches discuss the merits of the different teams competing in London. “Argentina solve their problems by taking on players and running with the ball,” says Jorgelina.
“Yes, but the USA is very systematic, too much so…” says Laura. “And Australia always attack. They need to learn how to get hold of the ball and play it around. This is what Netherlands do, they play the ball around until they see a gap and then ‘boom.”
“Yes, a combination of styles is the best,” agrees Jorgelina. These are the discussions the coaches have been enjoying over the duration of the course and from the feedback and sheer enthusiasm, it is clear that this is a course that has really given the high performance coaches some ideas and philosophies to take back to their respective countries.
PAHF, with the support of Resinsa- Polytan, paid for the coaches to attend the Hockey Academy course in London, but the pay back is immense as these two inspirational Olympians will use their love of hockey and knowledge of the game to inspire the next generation, not just in Argentina but across the Pan American region.
