Batch leaves Black Sticks for Kookaburras

Hockey Australia has confirmed the new head coaches for the Australian national hockey teams with former Black Sticks coach Colin Batch taking over the Kookaburras and Paul Gaudoin the Hockeyroos.

Colin Batch
Colin Batch

Batch joins Hockey Australia from his position as the head coach of the New Zealand Black Sticks men, a role he has held since 2012.

He comes in to the job after Graham Reid quit the post in October following the Hockeyroos' disappointing Rio Olympics campaign where they went in as world No 1 but crashed out in the quarter-finals.

Gaudoin, who has served as the interim head coach of the Kookaburras since October, will move across to become the national coach of the women's high performance program as of January 2017.

He replaces Adam Commens, who left Hockey Australia following the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Hockey Australia chief executive Cam Vale said: "Paul and Colin both excelled throughout the recruitment process in what was a very competitive process with applicants from around the world. The board at Hockey Australia truly believes that they are the candidates who will take our national teams to the next level as we look to the new four-year cycle."

The Kookaburras' unravelled at the Rio Games, eventually ousted by the Netherlands after surprise group-stage losses to Spain and Belgium.

The Hockyeroos fared no better.

Coming in as the world No 3 they were expected to contend for a medal but also lost in the quarterfinals, to New Zealand.

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