Sports: Hockey India makes welcomes appointment of new support staff for men and women teams

Hockey India has reconstituted the coaching staff of Indian men and women hockey teams. After appointing South African Craig Fulton as the new Chief Coach of the men’s team in place of Graham Reid, who quit after the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, Hockey India today announced new appointments of support staff for both men and women teams.

It announced on Friday  that Rhett Halkett and Alan Tan will join the support staff of the  men’s team  as Analytical Coach and Scientific Advisor, respectively. The Hockey India also announced that former Japan women’s hockey Head Coach Anthony Farry will fill in the position of Analytical Coach of the Indian women’s hockey team.

Rhett, a former South African international, had 155 international caps between 2010 and 2018. In 2020, Rhett went on to join the Netherlands women’s hockey team as its Assistant Coach. In his one-year tenure, he was part of the support staff during the FIH Women’s Pro League 2020-21, European Championships and Tokyo Olympics. In 2022 Rhett took over the role of Assistant Coach for the Scotland men’s hockey team and also helped Scotland U-21 Men’s Hockey Team as its Head Coach.

Alan Tan comes with over 10 years of experience working as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the NSW Institute of Sport from January 2011 to September 2021. He also went on to take over the role of National Development Squad Program Manager at Wheelchair Rugby Australia from August 2021 to March 2023. Alan worked as a Laboratory tutor and unit assessor marker for Bachelor Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Technology Sydney from September 2021 to March 2023, before taking over as Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach for Tennis Australia at the Sydney Training Centre from November 2022 to March 2023.

Meanwhile, Anthony Farry taking on the role of Analytical Coach is backed by a three-year stint as the Assistant Coach for Hockey ACT and Hockey Australia between December 2008 and 2011. He came into the limelight during his tenure as Canada Men’s Hockey Team Head Coach and High-Performance Director between August 2011 and February 2017, with Canada successfully qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games through the World League qualification system, for the first time in history.

He also helped Canada U-21 men’s hockey team qualify for two consecutive editions of the Junior World Cups. Farry also went on to lead Japan women’s hockey team as the Head Coach and High-Performance Director between February 2017 and August 2020. Under his guidance, Japan won their first Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2018. Farry took over the role of USA Women’s Hockey Team Head Coach and High-Performance Director between August 2020 to April 2022.

“We welcome the new coaching staff for the Indian Men and Women’s Team. On behalf of Hockey India, I thank Sports Authority of India for processing their appointments on an immediate basis and appreciate their continued support in preparing the Indian teams for the upcoming Asian Games in China in 2023. I wish Rhett Halkett, Alan Tan and Anthony Farry the very best in their new roles,” stated Dilip Tirkey, President Hockey India.

Prabhjot Singh