Batch reaffirms commitment to Black Sticks

Hockey New Zealand is thrilled to announce that Colin Batch has been re-signed as head coach of the Black Sticks Men.

The contract extension sees Batch confirm his place at helm until after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

High Performance Director Terry Evans said it was fantastic to retain a genuine world class coach.

"We are extremely excited to be able to keep Colin at the forefront of a top quality programme he has led and developed over the past four years," he said.

"The mens programme has gone through some big changes during his time as coach and with a vast amount of depth now developed, we have complete belief in our structures, processes and athletes going forward with the focus now on Tokyo 2020."

Batch, a former Australian international, has been in charge of the Black Sticks Mens programme for the past four years leading on from the London 2012 Olympics.

Prior to that he was head coach of the Belgium Men for two years, and was assistant coach of the Australian Men for eight years which included two successful Olympic campaigns. He also played 175 internationals for Australia.

Batch has led a major culture shift during his time as the Black Sticks Mens coach and has overseen a silver medal finish at the 2014 World League Final, fourth at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, while 2016 has produced bronze medals at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Six Nations in Valencia.



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ