Two-time gold medalist Katrina Powell has been chosen as the new hockeyroos coach for the Olympics. Powell has taken the place of Paul Gaudoin who left his role just four months before the Tokyo Olympics. Powell has been assigned the duty to change the toxic culture of sport and guiding the team to the Tokyo Olympics in July.
Katrina Powell has won Hockeyroos gold at the 1996 and 2000 Sydney Olympics. She has also won a 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medal. Furthermore, she has also added one world cup gold medal (1998) and three Champions Trophy wins (1997, 1999, and 2003) to the feather of her cap.
Powell became the first Hockeyroos coach since Colleen Quinn in 1978. She is currently serving as the coach of the NSW Institute of Sport’s women’s hockey program. Moreover, she also served in the various coach roles since 2005. Recently, she served as the Hockeyroos assistant coach at the 2019 Oceania Cup.
Powell disclosed that she will bring new ideas to lead the team towards the success. The main challenge for her is to decide whether to include 2019 goalkeeper of the year Rachael Lynch and ex captain Georgina Morgan for the Olympics or not.
Powell has inked the contract as a head Hockeyroos coach until the end of the Tokyo Olympics. She said: “We are going to work really hard with the athletes about developing a plan and having a strong idea of play.”
