Women's Hockey:Ireland have appointed Darren Smith as the new women's national coach. A New Zealand native, Smith takes up the role following six years as assistant coach to the New Zealand men's team which recently finished 9th at the Olympic Games in London 2012.
Smith’s coaching experience with the ‘Blacksticks’ included participation at Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup & Champions Challenges. He also represented New Zealand on 212 occasions as a player including earning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.
Both the men’s and women’s Irish teams lost their coaches this summer when the sides narrowly failed to qualify for London 2012.
“I am absolutely delighted by the appointment of Darren and really looking forward to working under his world class leadership,” said Irish captain, Alex Speers. “He is coming into the ladies’ squad in a very exciting time and I have no doubt his wealth of coaching and playing experience will guide the squad to consistently perform on the world stage.”
Smith will officially take up the role with Ireland in January 2013 following his upcoming marriage and will be based in Ireland.
“My fiancé Beth and I will be moving to Dublin in January to immerse ourselves in Irish life,” said Smith. “We are both looking forward to the adventure. The first challenge on the table is World League 2 to be held in Spain in late February. We will need to be at our best to finish in the top two of that tournament to push towards World Cup qualification. All of us want to see Ireland competing in the World Cup and Olympic Games.”