Kiwi Smith takes the Irish reins

Seven months of searching is finally over for Irish hockey after New Zealander Darren Smith was yesterday named as the new senior women’s national coach. Although beaten to the punch in officially announcing Smith’s arrival by their Kiwi counterparts yesterday, the Irish Hockey Association won’t mind taking their time to secure a top-class successor to Gene Muller, who resigned in March after Ireland’s failed Olympic qualification bid.

Like Andrew Meredith — who takes the Irish men into their first tournament under his guidance at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina this weekend — Smith comes with an impressive CV as an assistant coach. Smith helped New Zealand’s men rise to sixth in the world rankings, having been assistant coach with the Black Sticks for the past six years, and a player for the previous 11. While Meredith continues to base himself in Germany — attracting criticism from those who believe such an arrangement will prevent him running the rule over emerging local talent — Smith will move to live Ireland when he takes the reins in January. “It has been a really tough decision,” Smith said yesterday. “To be part of a team for that long, means it is ingrained in everything you do and is part of who you are, so it hasn’t been an easy decision at all. “Ireland is a team that is tracking really well internationally — they were one game away from qualifying for London and they have some great talent. So I feel very honoured to be given the opportunity to be head coach and lead their programme. His final commitments will be as Colin Batch’s assistant at the Champions Trophy in Melbourne from December 1-9 before finalising his move to Ireland. “My fiancé Beth and I will be moving to Dublin in January to immerse ourselves in Irish life. We are both looking forward to the adventure.” “I’ll be focused not only on the national team results, but also on working closely within the hockey environment to help enhance the high performance program. Through this I hope to ensure our talented players succeed on the international stage.” Smith’s first competitive games will be in the lead-up to World League round two to be held in Spain in late February, in which a top two finish will keep alive hopes of reaching the World Cup. He will aim to build on the impressive performances under interim coach Denis Pritchard in October’s Champions Challenge I in which Ireland finished third in Dublin, out-doing their pre-tournament ranking by three places.