Hockey: Expectations high as the Black Sticks start pushing for the Olympics

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Ian Rutledge is adamant. Hockey in New Zealand is a high- performance sport that must set high-performance goals and go after them.

Since arriving here from Australia last month to take over from long-time New Zealand women's coach Jan Borren, Rutledge has already been through a four-test series with Canada - won - and the three-match Oceania Olympic qualifiers against Australia - lost.

There is no let up. On Saturday he and his 18-strong squad left for Italy and the six-team Champions Challenge. In September they will play two tests in Japan before joining Japan, Korea and probably South Africa, in a four-team tournament there.

They will be back in time to play the Lion Foundation National League in September-October, after which the national squad will be reselected for a two-test home series against the world's No 1 side, Argentina.

The Black Sticks will then play the crucial Olympic qualifying tournament in Auckland in March, in what will be their last hope of winning a place in Athens.

It is an ambitious programme but one which, it appears, is not fazing Rutledge and his players, who have already begun a 68-week programme aimed at Olympic success.

"For the first time we have a fulltime coach," Rutledge said.

"With that we now have a fulltime programme.



"Despite the results against Australia, we are a bit ahead of where I expected we might be at this stage," said Rutledge, who has a four-year contract through to the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.

"Sure, it is a different scene than I had been used to. When I arrived here I was wondering what the depth would be like.

"I was encouraged by the fifth placing the girls had achieved at the Junior World Cup in Argentina. Now we have to set our sights higher.

"The immediate aim is to qualify for the Olympics and then get as high up the top-10 rankings as possible.

"I think we made progress through the series against Canada. They play a negative match, but that was not reflected on the scoreboard. By the fourth match we were dominant.

"Against Australia we played well enough to win one of the first two matches.

"The only downside was the third match, when we got exposed at the back.

"As we now go on, we have to take the positives from those seven matches.

"The players are adapting to my style. We want to set higher fitness standards. You will see the players become more efficient over time.

"The difference in playing Australia this time was we went out trying to win, whereas in the past they went out to minimise the damage.

"I want to get players playing higher. That allows the players to be more aggressive on attack.

"We need to play a lot of hockey. That takes time and sacrifices.

"We have a core group of players who played at the Sydney Olympics who are keen to get back [to Athens] and do better."

Basing his philosophy closely on his Australian experience, he said it is very much a "study for the exam, sit the test, get the results" model.

All the players are already training either with him in Auckland or with regional coaches around the country.

"After the national league they will train eight times a week.

"From early next year we will centralise the squad at North Harbour.

"We will spend six to eight weeks preparing for the Olympic qualifying tournament, knowing we are likely to have teams here preparing for the same tournament and looking for games."

But the immediate focus is on the six-team Champions Challenge, which starts with a game against Japan in Catania on Saturday, and then measuring themselves against teams such as Germany, Spain and the United States.

Rutledge neither expects, nor wants, easy games. By the time he and his team return from Italy on July 16 the Olympics will be 13 months away.

Not a lot of time, he says, to reach the goals he has set.

It won't be for the want of trying if they do come up short.