Former South African women’s hockey coach Ros Howell relinquished her post a week ago, but South African hockey officials have still not decided on a permanent replacement.
A frantic search in the past few months has yielded little reward with few obvious candidates in the South African coaching structure, and now the net has been cast overseas.
Wednesday last week was the last day that Howell could call herself the national women’s coach. She will be returning to her post as deputy headmistress at St Mary’s School in Johannesburg in the new year.
Howell’s departure has left a gaping hole at the top of the management team of the women’s side, one that remains unfilled due to a variety of reasons.
Following nominations from the provinces, a committee was set up and Nic Wides, coach of the Western Province team that won the IPT earlier this year and publisher of SA Sports Illustrated, was offered the job. He turned it down due to work commitments.
Former national player Karen Roberts is next in line and is jetting into the country between Christmas and New Year for urgent talks on whether she is available to take over the hot seat. She will, however, not be available for the two series in January.
And with the series against England and Scotland earlier in the new year, the players are beginning to wonder just who will take the reins.
A bevy of assistant coaches has been pooled together for the matches that will all take place in Potchefstroom, but the significance of the two series has been diluted somewhat with news that a number of South African players are unavailable due to club commitments in Europe.
As a result, the matches will not carry Test status.
”We have appointed Graeme Ortlieb, Eda Greenway and Jenny King to take charge of the matches against the Scots and English,” said South African Hockey Association CEO Paul Richards. ”They are all assistants and will operate in a caretaker capacity.”
Following all the hard work done during Howell’s two-year tenure, it seems it has taken just a few short months to undo those efforts.
An urgent examination is required if the national women’s team are to avoid the ignominy suffered by their male counterparts and go without an official sponsor.
Spar began a relationship in May last year that saw R5,2-million pumped into the game and will be keeping a close eye on the situation. — Sapa